


Aladdi

by Clarafication



Category: Aladdin (1992)
Genre: Genderbending, I came up with this idea in middle school, cantcha tell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-26 10:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 33,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6235363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarafication/pseuds/Clarafication
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aladdi, a famous and unlikely thief, is offered a job stealing from the palace. But when she meets Prince Jas in the marketplace, and he isn't exactly what she expected as a royal, she tries to go on with her plan, sneaking into the palace disguised as a princess. How will she pull it off without being caught or recognized? And what if she'd rather be a princess than a thief?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Come back here, street rat!” the baker’s voice hollered behind her. The girl looked back for the tiniest moment, her amber eyes flashing, only long enough to give the hulking man a wide grin. This made him brandish his rolling pin and lumber down the street slightly faster.

The girl clutched the warm loaf to her chest and slipped into a dark alleyway. She watched the huge man limp by from the shadows, still in hot pursuit of one of his freshly baked honey loaves and, more importantly, the street rat who’d stolen it from under his nose.

Emerging from her hiding place, the girl stopped to check both directions to be sure the idiot was long gone. Then she set off the way she’d come. Even the closest observer would have lost her almost instantly in a sea of brown robes and sandy streets, becoming just another figure browsing the marketplace. 

Walking through the streets, the girl grinned and tossed the loaf over her head once, snatching it out of the air as though it were a toy. Stealing bread was child’s play, but it was still necessary.

Clambering up onto one flat roof of many, she sank her uncommonly white and perfect teeth into the bread. The crust had cooled, but fragrant smells rose from the inside. Halfway through the loaf, she heard what she counted as half a dozen feet climbing the ladder to her perch. But the footfalls were light, not loud and clumsy like the marketplace soldiers’. She turned and smiled as three boys approached, all their faces split by wide grins.

All three boys were much bigger than her, but their glances showed that they respected this little gold-eyed girl. The tallest sat down by her, his legs dangling with hers above the market. His skin was a few shades darker than hers, more like the burnt spots on the bread than the ground cinnamon tone of her skin. “Getting in trouble a little early today, aren’t you, Aladdi? The old limper has been chasing the alleys up and down looking for you.” He nodded earnestly, his eyes full of admiration.

Aladdi smirked. “Gotta eat to live; gotta steal to eat, Sed. You know that.”

“Maybe you should let us walk you back home just the same?” That was Nik, the boy with one front tooth missing. The other two boys laughed. Aladdi was not a girl that needed protecting.

“I could take all three of you at the same time if I had to,” Aladdi said. Her smile was dazzling, but the look in her eyes told the others that she was not bluffing. They knew it, too.

“Then I’ll swap you a kiss for the rest of that bread,” Sed offered with a wink.

Aladdi rolled her eyes. The boy who’d not yet spoken up did now. “You’re not serious, are you Sed? You think she’d want to kiss you, with your teeth yellow as the sand and more rotten than fruit left for a month under the sun?”

Aladdi looked up at Rood, who was definitely the most handsome of the three. He was several years older than her, and ever since he’d met Aladdi had treated her with a quiet, fierce protectiveness.

“Well, who then? You?” Sed shot back. Rood blushed without a word, and Aladdi checked the position of the sun in the sky. She shrugged and stood, tossing the hunk of bread Sed’s way. “Save the kiss for later. I have somewhere to be.”

“You know, Laddi, someday I’ll follow you on one of your appointments and find out who you meet.”

“You know you can’t outrun me,” she said as she started toward the ladder with another grin. But this wasn’t a bluff either. 

“Are they near so nice as us?” Nik asked.

“No, not near so nice. In fact I hope that you never have to meet them.”

“Do they know that you’re a girl? Or that you’re just a kid?” Sed called after her.

Aladdi had stepped down onto the ladder before she answered. Only her head was visible, her lovely brown face framed by wild black curls. “What do you think?” Then she was gone.

The meeting place wasn’t far from the baker Aladdi had taken her breakfast from. She arranged her headscarf so it covered her black mane and most of her face.

She spotted Orem immediately. He was a tall man with a bald head and a round belly. He looked anxiously at the sun and then around. When she was close enough she spoke without even looking his way. “You wanted to see me?”

He jumped, then looked down at her. He peered close at her eyes, his only indication that she was the person he seeked. 

“It’s me, don’t worry,” Aladdi said in a well-practiced, annoyed tone.

“Shadow Walker. You did come. By the sultan’s favorite camel, you midget! Next time give me a little warning before you pop out of the darkness.”

Aladdi just smiled, knowing he couldn’t see her face. “Well?”

“Ah, yes. Come with me. We’re a bit obvious out here. You’re not going to explain to me, are you, why you always wear a scarf over your face like a woman?”

“I have my secrets, you have yours. Now, what did you want?” They’d entered an empty alleyway.

Orem hunched over her to speak in a low voice. “A client of mine has a job for you.”

Aladdi raised an eyebrow. “Because you don’t think I can find my own clients? Or because your man can’t handle the job?”

Though the big man didn’t give an answer, the look on his face told her: the latter. “Never mind that,” he stammered. “You’d better accept this one before I lose patience. I should think you’d be all too eager. How long has it been since your last job? Reduced to stealing crumbs off the street yet?”

“Straight from the baker, actually,” Aladdi muttered. “And it was still warm, too. So someone called you with a job for your man--” She said the words slowly, as though she didn’t believe him. She didn’t.

Orem threw his hands in the air. “What’s the use? You know all too well that you’re the most famous thief in Akraba. Somebody needs your talents especially, and I was the only one who knew where to find you.” Aladdi detected some pride in his voice.

She didn’t correct him and say that he didn’t know where to find her, only how to reach her. The message drop-off was across the marketplace from where Aladdi actually lived. Inconvenient, but necessary. Instead she nodded slowly. “Well, I’m flattered. Fine. What sort of job is this?”

The big man shrugged. “Get into the sultan’s palace, grab a valuable item, get out again. The client doesn’t care how you do it, only that it gets done.”

“Any valuable item?” Aladdi prompted.

“Has your brain clogged up with sand, Shadow Walker?” His fist started toward her ear, but she was ready. Aladdi dodged the hand and kicked the back of his knee in return.

“Desert rat!” he roared. “Go stuff yourself down an elephant’s throat.”

“Oh, but if I do that I can’t finish the job,” Aladdi countered, grinning.

“Argh! Fine, but that’ll be a piece out of your pay.” She nodded for him to continue. “Anyway, this item is of particular value to your client. He needs the sultan’s plans for the upcoming war with Fariz.”

Aladdi shook her head in disgust. War. It hung in every doorway with an ominous whisper and it lay on the tongue of every man and boy with the taste of blood. It splashed onto the cheeks of mothers and sisters and wives with salt tears. But Orem was right about one thing-- she hadn’t had a job in a while.

“Think you’re up to it?” Despite himself, Orem shifted his feet. “Like I said, he doesn’t care about the way you acquire the plans, only that you do.”

All Orem wanted, Aladdi knew, was to become the main contact to the Shadow Walker, the most coveted man to hire for any job that required a level of stealth. As much as Aladdi hated to give him that satisfaction, it was a job. “Any deadline?”

“By the next full moon.”

“That’s fourteen days,” Aladdi muttered thoughtfully. “There’s a ball and a feast, the whole affair, going on in the palace in a week. Something about the Prince choosing a bride. The royal families are coming from everywhere, whether their daughters are forty or twelve. Faraway visitors are arriving in just a few days. I could sneak in, and--” Aladdi cut herself off before she gave away the plan forming in her head. 

“How do you know this? An affair with a kitchen maid?”

Aladdi tried to conceal her disgust at the thought, saying nothing but, “I have my friends, you have the people you bribe and threaten. To each his own.” After a few more moments of thought, Aladdi spoke again. “Fourteen days, he said?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She nodded slowly. “I can do it in seven, ten at the most.”

Orem clapped his hands as if to rid them of sand. “Well, I’ll let him know--”

“I’ll need funds for acceptable clothing and tools,” Aladdi said coolly.

The huge man frowned. “What? Well, oh, yes, I suppose you will. I’ll send an accomplice of mine with sufficient funds, in advance out of your own pay, of course, and more specific information as to what and where and such.”

“‘Accomplice’? What, are you hiding the names of your scrawny child-slaves now?” Aladdi rolled her eyes and turned to leave. “Oh, and not Fanelli.”

“You little sorcerer-thief! You’re well aware that’s exactly who I was thinking of.”

“Do you want me to take this job or not?”

“Oh, whatever.” Orem’s brow furrowed in a way that reminded her of one of the little street children having a tantrum. 

“Then send anyone but Fanelli. That boy gets on my nerves.”

“Fine. You know, someday I’ll find out about you,” he said as she walked away. “I’ll find out what your actual name is, Shadow Walker. I’ll know where you go after you disappear too quickly for my boys to follow you. And I’ll find out what the face under that scarf looks like! Just you wait!”

Aladdi smiled as she left the alley and wandered down the street. She saw at least two little boys following her. One of them was still clutching the silver piece he’d been given to trail the mysterious Shadow Walker to his hideout. But Aladdi ducked behind a building and loosed her hair from her scarf. The boys shook their heads in confusion, glancing around frantically, then turned with bowed heads to report to Orem that they’d lost him, yet again.

It was closer to an evening meal than a midday one now, so Aladdi set down a route so familiar her thoughts wandered as she made her way down it. She ducked under awnings, climbed up ladders and stairways, until she came to the last turn. Aladdi glanced around furtively, waiting for what felt like hours until she was sure nobody was suspiciously lingering, nobody had a strange look on their face or was displaying any odd behavior. She felt every muscle loosen as she entered her secret place.

It was a simple home, with a straw mat on the floor and a few stolen fancy things. But the little trinkets were not the main attraction of this hovel. Aladdi drew back a tattered curtain and gazed out over the most enviable view in Akraba. 

From this window the girl could see the entire marketplace, dozens of shades of brown in a sandy sea. But dominating the image was the sultan’s palace, looming over the streets like a magnificent, slightly grim father. Its lights shone in the setting sun, making it the most beautiful sight Aladdi was sure she had ever seen.

“Someday,” she whispered to herself, letting the lonely girl show for the moment, while she was alone, “someday things will be different, Laddi. You’ll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all.”

She was tired after the day, and so she lay on her side on the straw mat, facing her view. She sighed, knowing how much work she had ahead of her if she was going to be successful in this job. Of course she would succeed! After all she had never yet failed. With this thought she turned over, yawning. It wouldn’t hurt to get some sleep. She would start on preparations for the assignment tomorrow morning.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning she dragged herself off her mat slowly, preparing to wake up lazily. Then she remembered the messenger, kicked off her blankets, and sat up. If she was going to meet one of Orem’s boys at noon, she still had to make her way through the busy morning market, get something for breakfast. Aladdi groaned and headed back out into the marketplace, taking the same precautions she had the night before. After being sure nobody had seen her come out of her hiding place, she made her way toward the baker’s cart, but the boys had beat her there. Rood handed her a loaf and they walked along down the street in a bunch, each of the boys looking at her but not making a sound.

Then Aladdi spoke. “I can’t have you trailing me around today. I have things to do.”

Nik nodded glumly, and Aladdi smiled apologetically. "I need more information on that ball coming up, Nik. Do you remember hearing anything else?"

Nik screwed up his facial features, eager to please. "People keep getting the number of girls wrong. One of the other stable hands said there would be a hundred, but Katin--"

Rood, Aladdi, and Sed looked at each other and grinned. Katin's name had been coming up far too often lately to be coincidence. Sed elbowed Aladdi and she grinned. Spotting this, Nik's cheeks reddened. "Katin said that there would be three hundred, and I'm sure she's right."

"Because Katin's always right," Sed told the other two with mock seriousness. 

"Don't tease him," Aladdi scolded, holding back a smile. To Nik she inquired, “have you heard anything else?”

Nik kept his head down as he spoke. “Katin says that ladies are coming from everywhere. There are so many different princesses in so many regions that even Katin can’t keep track of who’s coming from where, and Katin’s really good at remembering things.”

Sed sniggered again and received a jab in the ribs. 

Aladdi smiled at the littlest boy, ruffling his curls with one hand. “Thanks, Nik. When is the first wave of guests coming, again?”

“In three days.”

“Perfect. I can slip into the next wave and--”

Rood frowned. “You can’t do that!”

Aladdi looked at him as she started to walk toward the other end of the marketplace. “Why not, Rood? You know I can take care of myself.”

Sed shook his head. “Katin said that princesses are coming from all the surrounding countries, right? And with them will come their fathers, their escorts, their servants. You’re wanted in at least a third of those countries, Aladdi. Somebody’s bound to notice you.”

Aladdi bit her lip. She hadn’t thought of that. 

Nik nodded slowly. “They’re right. You only started disguising as a man when you came to Akraba. All the officials everywhere else know your face.”

“So I’ll wear a mask,” Aladdi said, shrugging. 

“Good luck slipping in unnoticed, then. Nobody else will be wearing a mask,” Rood said.

Aladdi stopped and turned around, her arms crossed. “Well, I can’t be a man for a week. It’s just not possible to keep a cover for that long, so I’ll have to do what I can.” Aladdi pulled her scarf over her face and walked away, quickly losing the boys in the crowd. 

Her mind was buzzing as she wandered down the marketplace, stopping every once in a while to glance at a cart or run her fingers over a piece of fabric. A figure walking with purpose would be noticed, but this way she would look like every other housewife doing the week’s trading.

Sometimes she didn’t like that she knew these things. How to get lost in a crowd, how to pickpocket a fat merchant, how to change her voice into that of another person. She wished she didn’t know to run up to the person you’re about to lie to, because it will throw off your breathing pattern and make a lie harder to detect. But her life as a thief hadn’t been her choice.

“Shut up and walk,” Aladdi muttered to her brain, and after a few more minutes of fake browsing she reached the dropoff.


	3. Chapter 3

“Finelli, I swear if I see your face again I’ll kick a hole in it,” Aladdi growled.

The little street urchin just grinned at her, sticking out his tongue. He was a miniature demon too short for his name, with dirty black hair and dark eyes, cracked teeth and a crooked smile to match. Clothed in thin fabric the color of the sand, the scrawny boy blended into the crowd as soon as he’d tossed the pouch of coins her way.

Aladdi felt the strange urge to follow him and give the rat a good beating, but she took a few deep breaths. There was too much to do for her to waste her day chasing a dirty stray through the streets. The girl turned on her heel and strode back toward the marketplace, shaking open the pouch of tarnished coins. It was barely enough.

Sauntering through the bustling clumps of people, Aladdi made her way to a few stalls, making swift deals with greasy salespeople. She bought a brightly colored scarf from one vendor, and fine slippers from another. Not finding a mask, she decided a simple veil would be sufficient for her disguise and bought one. 

The purse of coins was feeling nearly empty when she had finished buying. Carrying a covered basket of fine things and a little food, Aladdi was headed for her home to make plans when a loud growl made her jump. A few stalls behind her, the huge fruit merchant was shaking a man by the front of his robes. An apple fell from the smaller man’s hand and rolled to a stop a few feet away. Frowning, the girl watched as the big vendor, a perpetually drunk walrus of a man she’d long ago learned to steer clear of, snatched a knife from his belt and sneered into the younger man’s face. 

Aladdi sighed and dropped her basket, running not to the two men but to the soldier whose attention the yelling had drawn. Grimly, Aladdi pulled the buffoon’s large dagger from its sheath, stuck the blade through his sandal deep into the sand, and pulled his helmet over his eyes. 

She turned to catch a glimpse of the younger man’s face before he was shoved into the side of the stall and nearly slumped to the ground. The vendor stood over him, snarling, his knife raised over his head. It took Aladdi five seconds to grab the knife and the young man’s elbow. He seemed just now to understand what was going on, and stood to run by her side. She snatched her basket off the ground and looked back. Half a dozen soldiers had seen the vendor and the soldier and were running to their aid. 

“Come on!” Aladdi prodded, pulling him with her through alleys and up the ladder to the rooftops. 

At this point the man shook her loose. He was tall, with a strip of light blue just visible under his light brown robe. “I’m perfectly able to walk by myself, thank you,” he snapped. His face was slightly smudged with dirt, and seemed younger than she’d first thought. He couldn’t be more than three years older than her.

Aladdi shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She quickened her pace to stay a few feet ahead of the long-legged boy. Carefully she led him up the last ladder and into her hiding place.

She sighed as she entered and set down her basket near the mat, which lay unmade from that morning. Deciding not to examine her purchases just then, Aladdi took an apple from another basket and tossed it to the man. Grabbing one for herself, she sat on a ledge by the curtain and watched the young man before her. He was tossing the apple from one hand to the other, observing his surroundings. “So this is where you live?” he asked in his warm, strong voice.

“That it is,” Aladdi said. She put the apple back and stood to pull back the curtain. It was a habit of hers to watch the evening fall on the city from here. Sitting on a ledge, she dangled her feet over the edge and looked back at the man. Her eyes were drawn by something shiny by his face. He was wearing a gold earring, definitely finer than anything in the ears of the soldiers. 

Aladdi frowned. She knew exactly how she would steal that, but it would have taken several hours of careful deception and a finer gown than she was wearing right now. She supposed she could knock him out or pull a trading scam, but he seemed rather too sturdy, with a glance sharper and more alert than anybody she’d ever pulled anything on. He was also rather handsome, with clean black hair and warm, dark eyes. His skin was darker than hers, but not by much, suggesting much time indoors. Again she saw the blue fabric peeking out of his collar. Aladdi’s eyebrows shot up. He could be a nobleman, or a spy sent by-- anybody, it didn’t matter whom. There were over a dozen individuals in the city alone who would give anything to see her dead.

It was decided. She had to get him out of here, as soon as possible. She opened her mouth to speak, about to suggest he go now before the soldiers organized a search, then noticed that he had come forward to sit by her on her ledge.

“It is a great view,” he said grudgingly. His face betrayed some bitterness, as though he was reluctant to pay compliment to the palace.

Aladdi shrugged. “I see a pretty palace, with a lot of good food and warm blankets. I’d rather live here than be a royal, though.”

“You’re in good company, then, I suppose. It does look nice from here. But from-- I mean, I can hardly imagine how it feels from the inside. With all these responsibilities, never able to go where you want to or say what you think. It’d be pretty confining. Don’t you think?”

Aladdi looked at him. There was a resentment in his eyes that she couldn’t puzzle out. “Almost better than having to hide from half the people around you. Forced to keep secrets from the people closest to you. That’s what I would call trapped.”

“Right.”

He had just opened his mouth to speak when a growling voice rang throughout the little hiding place. “Get her!” 

Aladdi cursed as soldiers began to flood into her home, snarling. She stood and snatched her basket of purchases and a pouch from beneath her blanket. The boy stood as well, looking almost prepared to defend her. The thought passed through her mind that though impossible, this was rather gallant of him. 

There was no way out. Except-- Aladdi looked around, looked down, and grinned. She turned to the outnumbered man and held her hand out to him. “Do you trust me?” she asked.

His eyes grew wide. “What?” 

“I said, do you trust me?” she repeated, exasperated. 

“Not in the least!” 

Aladdi shrugged. “Well, that’s your choice, I guess.” She grabbed his hand and raced to the far end of the ledge they’d just been sitting on. Directly below them was another roof. About fifteen feet directly below them. She gave the boy beside her a wicked grin and jumped, pulling him with her.

She forced them both into a roll to lessen the impact and then stood to run. She led him down a few ladders onto another roof, but there were more soldiers there. Aladdi’s thoughts dashed about, searching for an escape route that would work for the both of them. She could have jumped again, or slid between the legs of the nearest soldier and been gone at once. But both of those options would only be open for a few more moments, and neither would be suitable for two. 

“Go on, I’ll be fine,” the man said, letting go of her hand.

“Can’t,” Aladdi said matter-of-factly, “I’d need a few extra seconds.”

These words had hardly left her lips when rough hands grabbed her arms from behind. The stench of the soldier’s breath assailed her nostrils and she gagged.

“Release her,” the man commanded. It was rather convincing until the soldier holding her scoffed. 

“That’s adorable,” said another guard, and the voice behind Aladdi laughed. She tried to take advantage of the slight distraction and pull away, but the man snatched at her hair and dragged her back, wincing.

“I said, release her!” The man looked at her, the corners of his mouth regretful. “Release her,” he repeated, opening the clasp on his robe, revealing a light blue shirt and fine light brown slacks, standing up straight, letting the robe drop to the dusty ground, “by order of the crown."


	4. Chapter 4

Aladdi’s wits returned to her just in time to take advantage of the guards’ confusion and slip away, clutching the basket and pouch to her chest. Without looking back, she sprinted until she was out of sight and earshot. Heart pounding in her ears, Aladdi blended into the crowd and wandered until Rood appeared at her elbow.

“I didn’t teach you how to tail people so you could use it on me, you know,” Aladdi said without glancing his way.

“I had to make sure you were going to be safe,” Rood protested stubbornly in his low voice. 

Aladdi picked a string of blue beads out of a basket of wares, feigning interest. She hissed, “I told you I was going to be fine.” Something ugly in her pushed at her tongue, and she continued. “You know that stopping to lace your sandal is perhaps the most obvious stall ever, right? An infant would have noticed and lost you in a second.”

Sed would have punched her arm, and Nik would have hung his head, but Rood just looked at her evenly. “I thought you were going to pack today. You were found, weren’t you?”

Aladdi casually flipped her scarf over her head to cover her lie. “Of course not. I forgot to pick up a satchel. My old one is torn.”

Rood’s eyes were still suspicious, but Aladdi looked away from him and grabbed a satchel from its hook on the post of a stall. Without another word, she slipped into the crowd. 

After a moment’s hesitation she walked across the market toward the alley where Nik lived with his little brothers. It didn’t take long to find the little boy, who galloped to her side and smiled at her. “I thought you were going to pack today,” he remarked.

The girl couldn’t help smiling at his gap-toothed grin, the dust on his brown cheeks. “Yes, well, there was a little change of plan,” Aladdi tried to keep her face straight, but the little boy hadn’t yet learned to read a lie. 

“Will you play with us?” A little boy on the other side of the alley called. They were playing a game, bouncing an apple on their knees and elbows. That simple red fruit threw her back to an hour ago, to the man in the blue, the prince, tossing an apple from one hand to the other. ‘Is this where you live?’ He had been straightforward, open, almost friendly, so different from the man she had been expecting to meet, and steal from. Why had he been outside the palace walls? And why disguised? If he had strolled through the marketplace in that fine blue linen, he could have got that apple and so many other things for only a glance. 

“Aladdi? Pleeaase?” Nik’s voice joined the chorus of boys asking her to play. 

She smiled at them all apologetically. “I’m sorry, I just came to ask Nik if I could sleep in this alley tonight.” She looked at her friend, who at only twelve years old was almost an inch taller than her already. He was muscle and bones, like his eating hadn’t grown up with him yet. Too many boys had that look.

Nik’s eyes grew wide. “You were found!”

“No, Nik! Of course I wasn’t found,” she said, smiling. “It’s me, remember?” What mistake had she made? Why this time?

Nik’s easy grin was back. “Right, it’s you. You’d never get caught.”

“Right.” Her heart felt light. That was at least the third lie today. She shouldn’t count.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as possible Aladdi left the alley, making her way back across the marketplace. Nik had wanted her to stay, but the trust and admiration in his eyes only made her feel worse and soon she found an excuse to walk away, assuring him that she would see him in the evening. 

Aladdi hadn’t been sure where she was going, but now she looked up to realize that she was almost to the entrance of her home-- what had been her home, anyway. She sighed to notice that the guards were gone, probably having given up in favor of the more important task of escorting the Prince of Akraba back to the palace.

She shouldn’t think of that either. She shoved the image of the dark-haired man and his gold earring into a corner of her mind that she saved for memories she didn’t want to recall anymore: all the lies, her parents’ faces, all lay hidden behind a door, the key to which she always pretended to lose. She closed the door over his charming smile and tried to focus on what she had left in her hideout. The clothing for her job. Her mission: sneaking into the palace feigning a wish to marry that man in the fine blue linen. Shaking her head, she imagined a bunch of soldiers waiting behind the tattered curtain, waiting to ambush her as she gathered her belongings. Aladdi shivered. It was worth the risk. 

Walking at a careful pace, Aladdi slipped into the alley and her feet pounded the old familiar route up to her ruined sanctuary. 

Lucky for her, the palace soldiers were hardly thorough in their search. The curtain lay torn on the floor, and her few trinkets had been trampled in the frantic ransacking of the place. But the basket with her clothes, the money she had saved under a chamber pot, the tiny collection of jewelry sewn into her straw mattress, all lay untouched in their original places. Gathering all of these things into her basket, Aladdi took one last, long look at her surroundings. She would never be able to use this place again. As short as the memories of the palace soldiers must be, news of the hideout must have reached the ears of Orem and his kind by now. Fear pierced every other idle thought as the scene replayed itself. Her hair uncovered-- if the soldiers had noticed her face-- if anybody made the connection between the street rat Laddi and the Shadow Walker, her execution was practically scheduled. 

Taking deep breaths, Aladdi packed these thoughts away and carried her basket out the back entrance of the space her mistake had wasted. Her memory assured her that she had covered her tracks well enough. The gnawing in her gut protested something else, but she didn’t listen. Perhaps she should have, but she didn’t.

Aladdi’s feet carried her to Rood’s house against her will. Despite her ugly words, he was the one of the boys whose wisdom sometimes surprised her, and she could use it right then. She needed to plan; without her home and hiding place, it may be necessary to find a way into the palace as early as that evening, perhaps the next morning. She could say that her country had received the wrong day and go as early as that day if she had to.

“No,” was Rood’s immediate response. “No, Aladdi, I don’t like it,” he said as she stood in his doorway and he helped his family spread their straw mats over the floor, preparations for the night. Aladdi tried not to think about the cold alley that awaited her tired body. 

“But if I--”

He stopped working and looked at her. “If you arrive early, even more attention will be on you. I thought you said you were going to play it safe, arrive in the middle of the guests, keep your head down.”

“I don’t remember ever saying that,” Aladdi said, arms crossed.

Looking at his siblings around him, Rood walked over and spoke low into her ear. “You just got caught. Don’t you think it makes the most sense to sit this one out? Keep your nose clean for a little while?”

If she had seen his eyes, she would have seen the kindness that waited in them, the concern for her that she thought she didn’t need. But his words had pricked her pride, and she didn’t lend him so much as a glance. “I need to go,” she said to the floor, her amber eyes flashing.

“Laddi, wait.”

“I’ll see you around,” she snapped, her back to the room already. Hurrying out of the house, she bit her lip and held her basket close to her side. When she put her scarf over her face, she could ignore the fact that nobody else on the street was aware of. She could ignore the tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.

This face was not the one that she wanted Nik to see, and his blind faith would not help. She left a message with one of his brothers and made away before he returned from the marketplace, and slept in an alley near the palace. Without a plan for the first time she could remember. Without friends for-- she didn’t want to count.


	6. Chapter 6

Aladdi hardly slept that night. She lay awake, spinning head nestled in her crumpled scarf, her pillow. Camels and horses shuffled in the stables on the other side of the thick stone wall, and a group of young men were shouting laughter a few streets away. Aladdi covered her face with the corner of her robes and curled into a ball.

She knew that it was ridiculous to miss a place, more useless than a treasure hoard in the middle of a desert. But she missed her little hovel, with its tattered curtain and makeshift safety. It had been a threadbare shell for her secret, but it had been a covering nonetheless. Now she felt laid bare, unhidden and unlooked-for in the corner of an empty alley.

Not that she hadn’t had worse. Aladdi could still remember the times after her parents were buried far from home. She hadn’t even slept then, wandering the streets and learning quickly the lessons that are supposed to pass gently into a child from her parents’ gentle words.

Don’t linger in a dark alley if there are men with bottles.

Duck your head but make sure to steal their wallet.

Turning away from the door in her mind that was starting to open more easily than ever, Aladdi closed her eyes and laid that way for a long time, until she slipped into restless dreams.

Waking quickly, Aladdi stood and gathered her things. She had one more friend who might take her in for the day. A small part in her was guilty for exploiting Sed’s affection, but she found herself thinking that if he would just hide her from soldiers and let her hear her own thoughts, she may just give him that kiss after all. 

The boy opened the door to his and his sister’s home without the wide grin and bright cheeks that usually accompanied her arrival. He stood in the doorway, then stiffly said, “so. You came to me last.”

Aladdi’s shoulders slumped, and with a grudging sigh he let her in. “I hear you got caught,” Sed told her. His voice was careful, as though he was giving her the words, holding them, fragile as glass, trying to protect her. Or maybe, the thought raced into the center of her thoughts, himself.

Sed was looking at her, waiting for her to speak, but she couldn’t banish that new, sickening idea from her mind. Suddenly, images of every time her friends had protected, spoken to, or showed off for her flashed through her mind. Of course the boys led a dangerous life as thieves in the Akraba marketplace, but how, how could she ignore the fact that every moment Nik, Sed, and Rood spent in her company could turn into a year in prison if they were not careful?

She opened her mouth and Sed finally smiled, still not his crazy grin but a still, knowing expression. “Okay,” he said, “you’re about to try to make some big, heroic speech, I can tell, but first--” Aladdi raised her eyebrows. “--have you eaten a thing since the last time I saw you?” Sed asked.

One more look at her face and he laughed, shook his head and touched her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.” And before she could say anything, he was out the door with a wink.

Sed’s sister greeted her and then went to visit a friend, and Aladdi sat on the floor of Sed’s home, counting heartbeats. A strange fear had settled in her, and every other moment she found herself thinking of how far away the baker’s cart was, how many soldiers were posted along the marketplace, and how long it normally took Sed to pick a meal from beneath the counter of a market stall. 

When the sun reached the middle of the sky and Sed’s sister returned, Aladdi stood. Her legs were stiff from sitting all these hours, but she didn’t stop on her way out the door. Pulling her scarf over her face, she all but ran down the alley to the marketplace. Hurrying toward the baker’s cart, Sed’s favorite victim, she stopped still when she heard the baker’s loud, boasting, ugly voice. He was talking to the man who owned the jewelry cart. Aladdi glanced at his friend and a familiar face caught her attention. Rood was standing in the corner behind the baker, Nik peeking around behind him. The older boy met her eyes and without another look he disappeared. 

“Of course I don’t put up with thieving street scum,” he said to another man, his giant chest high in the air and his fists shaking. “That winking rat thought that he could get his hands on my honey loaves nice and easy! His mistake! He tried to pick a melon from the fruit cart right after--” 

Sed hated melons. 

“--and I just yelled for the soldiers around the corner.” 

Aladdi loved melons. “He’ll be behind bars for a good long time now,” the stinking walrus of a monster bragged, spit flying from his mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

A sour taste in the back of Aladdi’s throat, she spun on her heel and walked, almost mechanically, back in the direction she had come. Pulling her scarf tight about her face, she slipped through the crowd, back toward her friend’s home.

All the while, her mind reeled. Sed’s smile seemed unwilling to disappear behind her door and instead blared throughout her mind. The prince’s face escaped as well, his gentle eyes mocking her, reminding her of another commitment-- yet another daunting promise to keep.

On the outside the girl looked like she was simply in a hurry to get home, but inside her head her thoughts cast about like the anxious little child she was always trying to suppress. She could not allow her feelings to depend on any of the faces. She could not let the idea of the danger she brought upon her friends leave her focus for even a second. Every responsibility: taking care of the younger boys, listening to Rood, all seemed hopeless in the chaos of the streets. Desperately, Aladdi latched onto the first solid idea her flailing thoughts touched: the palace and the war plans.

Jaw set, Aladdi walked through the door into Sed’s house. His sister was gone, probably already brought by brave neighbors to the jail, which stood against the back wall of the palace. Aladdi snatched up her things and was gone as quickly as she had arrived. A covered face again wandering toward the palace.

When she had finally reached the gates, it was full into night. Aladdi could have sworn it was colder this time as she lay again in her little alley in sight of the palace. Her heart begged for sleep, a chance to close her weary eyes and forget. Though she kept her eyelids squeezed shut against the image of Sed’s smile, never once that night was she able to forget it.

The morning sun seemed harsh when Aladdi opened her eyes into it. Its almost orange light was unkind to her surroundings, and looking around at them the girl found herself wishing to roll over and hide. 

Nevertheless, she dragged herself to her feet and gathered her meager belongings. Looking down at the handful of dried food in her basket, Aladdi’s stomach begged for a fresh honey loaf, but Rood and Nick were bound to be there this morning. Looking for breakfast, not for her.

Aladdi spent the rest of the morning wandering along the palace wall, wondering how she was going to get in. She had counted on Nik’s help, and without him her options had grown thin. But then she shoved the little boy, along with Rood and every other familiar thing, roughly behind the door and turned her back on it, let herself walk away.

A minute later, she rounded the wall and found herself in the empty square in front of the palace. Or-- not empty.

Aladdi ducked back behind the wall as an entire procession came into sight. Giant white horses bore dozens of soldiers, armor flashing (and probably miserably hot) in the late morning sun. These were followed by carriages, gleaming gold and white and a blue purer than the sky. Aladdi smiled dryly as she watched the beautiful women and animals pass through the gates. Unseen by the nobility, she knew, there would be a following company, just as great as this fine parade, of servants in plain clothing. They would clear the road behind of straw and animal waste, then follow into the palace to serve, invisible. 

Aladdi froze, watching the last row of horses draw near. Villagers had flooded out of the marketplace already, and the cleanup crew blended in, heads bent over their work.

Thoughts flashing, Aladdi snatched up her basket and transferred her things quickly to a plain satchel. Letting her strip of dried mango drop to the dirt, she ran, hurrying through the crowd and slipping among the workers, who were shoveling camel dung into huge piles along the side of the street. Soon the city poor would come with their own wagons to carry these piles away and collect their meager wages for their labor.

This was another thing Aladdi tried not to think about. She shut her eyes at the treatment of commoners in Akraba. Unseen and unthanked, urchins scrambled to keep the streets (barely) inhabitable, and were repaid with the slim chances of staying alive. 

She kept her head down, shuffling with the other workers into the palace. The faces of nobility that she had met flashed through her mind, ignorant of the shuffling masses that cleaned up and lived among the royal mess. Aladdi clenched her teeth. These people would go to war for their rulers, give their lives with the blind hope, the only wish, that they would live to come home and continue to help their families sweep the streets. 

Shaking these thoughts out of her head, Aladdi shuffled forward into the palace and out of the scorching heat. Her face under her scarf felt the relief of hundreds of fans servants were using, struggling to stir the stuffy air.

As soon as the palace doors swung closed behind her, Aladdi slipped away through one of the doors that led away from the entrance hall. She stood with her back to the door and caught her breath, examining her surroundings. A long, dim hallway trailed away from the door, out into one of the palace’s many wings. The unadorned walls and lack of light assured Aladdi that no nobility would come this way, and she hurriedly discarded her commoner’s clothing. Out of her satchel she pulled fine blue robes, jewelled and embroidered in dizzying extravagance. Leaving her satchel forgotten in the corner, she cleaned her face and hands with water from a nearby washroom. Then Aladdi tied a thin beaded veil over her nose and mouth, took a deep breath, put on a scowl, and burst into the entrance hall.


	8. Chapter 8

Bursting into the main hall, Aladdi put her hands on her hips and spoke in the loudest and most commanding tone she could muster. Her voice was veiled carefully in a blend of the accents of several nearby countries. “Where can I find somebody who can follow a simple order?”

The large room went silent, and all Aladdi could hear were the faltering fans in the hands of the some hundred servants lining the walls. She had left her hiding place at exactly the right time—all the nobility from the arriving party had been sent to their luxurious chambers, and only their servants and soldiers remained.

An alarm went off in the back of Aladdi’s mind. There were hundreds of soldiers here—dozens for each noble who had arrived, along with the usual palace security. It would be impossible to escape if this went badly. But on her previous missions, Aladdi had survived riskier situations with nothing but luck and confidence, so she kept her chin up as she strode into the room.

A slightly more important-looking group of men stood in the corner, and Aladdi headed toward them with the commanding stride of a royal. Their expressions confirmed her suspicions: they were just manservants, probably to the ambassadors who had accompanied the princesses. They stood up straight in self-assigned importance, but a flicker of fear in their eyes made Aladdi want to grin. Instead, she stopped just too far away, so they had to scramble to be at her service.

The tallest man addressed her first with a composed bow. “May I inquire as to your name, my lady?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Highness,” he stammered, correcting himself, and she graced him with a smile. Aladdi took another deep breath and spoke again in her new voice. “I am Princess Aleria, of your sister country.”

To Aladdi’s relief, the manservant did not dare stop her to question what country that was. “My travelling party were traitors,” she continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “They have been taken by the few I still trust back the long journey to my homeland to face the consequences for their crimes. I have been in this town for a day, seeking entrance into the palace and have not seen the hospitality of Akraba of which I have heard so much.” Aladdi raised her eyebrow again.

At that, the tall man’s nose wrinkled. Aladdi guessed that he was a servant in this palace, and addressed him directly. “For so much, as far as I have seen, it really is very little.”

This sent the Akraba servant over the edge. He bowed again. “You have my personal apologies, Princess Aleria. I am Bimlek, manservant of His Highness, Prince Jas.”

Aladdi’s heart seemed caught in her throat. But Aladdi was stuck in the back of her own mind, and Aleria hadn’t got her friend in jail, and hadn’t met the Prince. She just looked curious. “Really? Well, I shall be sent a maid for today, and—” she looked around, trying to seem bored, at a loss for what else to demand.

“And your chambers?” Bimlek (the helpful fellow) suggested.

Aladdi nodded curtly. “And some food and water. I am weary from my journey.”

Bimlek nodded. He barked at a nearby servant girl to take Aladdi to her rooms, and she followed down several corridors. The palace in Akraba was no larger than any of the other buildings Aladdi had been to during her missions. Nevertheless, the palace was huge and all the hallways looked the same. She had the presence of mind to memorize the turns she took.

The servant girl was silent, but when Aladdi looked at her she realized with a shock that the girl was at least three years younger than her. The girl looked frightened, and another glance gave Aladdi a glimpse of the purpling bruise on the side of the girl’s face. Aladdi tightened her lips against the spray of curses she wished to hurl at some nobleman, and was relieved to find they had come to a fine wood door.

The girl opened the door and spread a hand toward the inside of the chamber. Aladdi said “thank you,” before she could stop herself, and the girl jumped, as though not accustomed to being spoken to. She said nothing.

Aladdi stepped into the room, bracing herself for the barrage of extravagant detail that was bound to come. Sure enough, she had to stop herself from gaping at the tapestries that covered the fine marble walls, the high bed with its dozens of pillows, the plush rugs under her feet. An entire part of the room was dedicated to shelves and racks of colorful clothing. Aladdi almost ran her fingers over the silk sleeves, but then she remembered that the girl was still standing there, waiting for something.

Aladdi turned back toward the little girl, and she couldn’t help smiling at the way she stood so ready to serve. “Yes?” Aladdi prompted.

“M’lady,” her voice trembled, and this time Aladdi didn’t correct the title, “I am to tell you that there is to be a feast tonight for all the princesses to meet His Highness, and tomorrow we—I mean, Bimlek will find you a proper maid.”

Aladdi frowned, stepping up on the little stool so she could climb onto the bed. “You are just as proper as any maid I could get. Would you tell him— what is your name?”

The little girl looked startled again, but she curtsied. “My name is Katin, m’lady.”

Aladdi took a sharp breath. Nik’s face flashed back into her memory, and she couldn’t quite bring herself to smile again. “Katin. Could you ask Bimlek to let you wait on me for a while? There is no need to spend precious time finding me anybody else.”

Aladdi couldn’t decide whether Katin’s face was more shocked or pleased. “Of course I will, m’lady,” she said, curtsying several times on her way out of the room.

She thought of Nik’s face again and called out “Oh, and Katin?”

The girl poked her head back through the door. “Yes?”

“Could you tell him I would like all your other duties forgiven while you are in my service?”

“Y-yes, Princess Aleria,” she gasped, and raced down the hall.

Aladdi laid back on the bed, letting out a content little sigh. She still had a long way to go, but Katin’s life would be better for a while if she could do anything about it.

She fully intended to get up and make a plan for the rest of the day, but the mattress beneath her was softer than anything she had experienced, and the entire day weighed on her eyelids. She just wanted to forget where she was for a moment, and before she could think anything more her eyes were slipping closed and everything went peacefully, blissfully black.


	9. Chapter 9

Aladdi was wide awake in an instant. It took her a few moments to remember why there was a stone ceiling above her, soft pillows under her head and no noise coming from the marketplace, but then everything flashed back into her mind at once. She remembered Sed’s capture, getting into the palace, and throughout it all persisted the prince’s gentle face.

Then she jerked upright in the bed, looking around at her luxurious surroundings. There was no window, no way to tell how long she had slept. She slipped off the huge mattress onto the floor. The stone beneath her feet was heated in the cool evenings by furnaces in the lower parts of the palace, and Aladdi’s toes curled in unfamiliarity and anticipation. She crossed to the wardrobe and ran her fingers across the dozens of different fabrics. There was a gown of every color she could think of. 

Aladdi was just retying her veil when Katin came rushing into the room. The girl’s face was pale, and she looked terrified when Aladdi turned toward her. Aladdi smiled in spite of herself. Katin’s expression of nervous eagerness reminded her of Nik.

“I’m sorry, my lady,” Katin gasped. “I forgot about the banquet, and that you would need my help to get ready...” She trailed off, looking puzzled.

Aladdi looked down at the robes she had chosen and frowned. She had forgotten that the noble she impersonated would have relied on more than one maidservant to dress her. Katin didn’t seem to want an explanation, but instead found a pair of jeweled slippers to match the lilac color of her gown. The younger girl expertly tied the gown’s sash and stuck glittering pins into Aladdi’s mane of hair-- Aladdi wondered why the servant girl was stuck in the kitchens. 

When she was done, Katin stepped back with an expression of careful pride. Aladdi couldn’t miss the curious glance at her veil, but she smiled and made sure that her eyes showed it. “Thank you,” she said, and she and Katin exited her chambers and made their way toward the center of the palace.

It was difficult for Aladdi to conceal her awe when she stepped into the hall where the nobility were starting to gather for the feast. Rich tapestries covered the stone walls, and the table seemed as large as the town marketplace. And it was covered with food: colorful fruits, seeded breads and exotic animals with their heads gruesomely propped up in front of the bodies. 

A servant stood by to show guests to their places, and when approached, Aladdi spoke her name and was led to a seat only four chairs from the head of the table. Gathering her skirts to sit down, she couldn’t help but think that Akraba must be trying to make up for their previous ‘inhospitality’. She hid a smile as she sat down, and as the last nobles arrived the noise in the great hall lessened to a dull, constant chatter.

The sultan, who was a jolly, round, white-bearded man, stood at the head of the table and held up his goblet of wine. He then proceeded to make a long and cheerful speech about tradition and ancestry and gratitude, while Aladdi let her eyes wander.

All the ladies looked more or less alike. There were young girls with their matronly servants, stately women with ringed fingers, and a few rare beauties whose smug faces said that they knew it, too. But they all seemed to have their gazes fixed on one spot: the right hand side of the rambling sultan. Aladdi let her eyes follow theirs.

There sat the prince, with the perfect expression of attentiveness and agreement. He was still wearing blue, but this time his tunic was embroidered with gold and not hidden by a rough brown cloak. His eyes were bright, as though with some secret amusement, and he still wore the simple gold hoop Aladdi had foolishly considered stealing. 

The sultan seemed to be finishing, and soon it was the prince’s time to speak. But he just stood with his cup raised, waiting for the nervous tittering laughter to die out. Then he welcomed all his honored guests in his warm voice, raised his cup to his lips, and sat down. 

There was a flurry of movement, and servants emerged to carry every platter around the table. So that the nobles didn’t have to stretch their arms to reach their food, Aladdi thought bitterly, but she was soon distracted by the beautiful food and was swept away in a wave of rich smells, bright colors, and laughing brown eyes. 

Every woman in the place seemed to be trying to take this very first opportunity to draw the prince’s attention. They stood up and walked to other parts of the table, pretending to greet a friend so that they could walk past him. They laughed loudly so that he would look down the table toward the noise. 

But none of them had Aladdi’s reasons for being there, or Aladdi’s cautions. She sat and ate daintily as she could, trying to say as little as possible. The prince was seated across the table from her, so that if she leaned her head slightly to the left she could watch him laugh and talk with the young men and ladies seated near him. He was kind to his father, and nobody near him dared laugh at the sultan’s red face and ridiculous stories. Once or twice the prince’s eyes met hers and Aladdi caught her breath, but he just smiled quizzically at her and responded to a question from one of his companions. He didn’t know she was the girl who saved his hand, or that he was the man who saved her life. 

She couldn’t help but wonder why he had been there that day. He had pretended not to be familiar with the palace, almost as though he didn’t want anybody to know that he was heir to the entire nation. Or was it just a sport, to take on another identity for a day and bring back the amusing stories of daring rescues to tell around a crowded table of nobles and attendants? Aladdi pinched her lips, glancing nervously again at the soldiers who stood by the entrance, and what carefree part of her had been enjoying the delicious food and beautiful clothes melted away. She could not whip out a royal title if things got too risky. She was on her own.


	10. Chapter 10

Aladdi didn’t slip into sleep quite so easily that night. Her thoughts were haunted: the friendly faces of the prince and sultan, the soldiers patrolling the corridors who seemed to hear her treacherous thoughts through the thick stone walls, images of Sed sitting in a dark cell flashed behind her eyelids. She had less than two weeks to steal the war plans from some room in this palace, and she still had no idea how she was going to do it.

Aladdi slipped out of the giant bed, letting her feet swing to the floor. Katin was sound asleep in the adjoined chamber. Aladdi had asked her not to come into her room at night without being asked. With this slight comfort, Aladdi had taken off her veil, that flimsy barrier between her identity and the whole palace’s prying eyes. She couldn’t help thinking that perhaps it wouldn’t be enough. 

She pushed open the heavy wooden door and padded along the hallway. The center of the palace tended to house the most important guests, so she walked outward, to where the floors were cold and the noise from the streets could actually be heard. Aladdi’s muscles seemed to loosen as she slipped past the last set of guards and made her way into the stables. She found a corner and sat down, listening to the horses moving in their stables and the faraway sounds of street people settling down to sleep. 

She thought, as she had so many times before, of leaving. When things became too difficult, too messy, Aladdi could find a way out of the country and start again in another. She could have a new life, find new jobs without the mission that was making her heart and mind so jumbled. She could leave the people who were chasing her and the people who expected things from her, leave them all behind with a few trinkets and a straw mattress. 

It all seemed so easy. She almost let herself stand up and walk, out of the stables, away from the palace, out of the town, past the gates.

But then a new noise joined the others, and Aladdi’s muscles tensed again. Somebody was lurking in the shadows just a few feet away, and Aladdi’s heart started beating loud in her ears. She hesitated, then sprang from her seat, pinning the stranger’s arms behind him and grabbing a lock of short hair.

“Ow! Aladdi, hang on! It’s me,” he whispered urgently. Aladdi dropped the boy and looked harder at his face. It was Nik, with the same admiring expression. There was a little more fear, a little more sadness in it now. She hated herself for it.

Aladdi sighed and helped up her friend. “I keep telling you not to take me by surprise, Nik. What are you doing here?”

The boy brushed himself off and looked around carefully. “Katin told me all about the new princess and when she described her I just knew it was you.” His face lit up with the same excitement that she so envied in him, the pure enthusiasm without concern, the hope without doubt. “And right away I knew you were going to get Sed out, and I figured I should come see you to ask if there was anything I could do.”

“How were you going to get into the palace? You had no idea where I was.”

Nik shrugged. “You always get into places all right. I thought if I could just get in I could find Katin and then she could help me find you.”

Aladdi’s eyes widened, and she put a hand on Nik’s shoulder. “You can’t tell Katin anything about me, okay? I know she’s your friend, but to her I’m Princess Aleria and I don’t know anybody in Akraba,” she said firmly. “Do you understand?”

Nik nodded, disinterested. “What are you going to do about Sed?” Seeing her hesitation, he frowned. “That’s why you came so early, isn’t it? You’re going to get Sed out of jail before you do the next thing you need to do?”

Aladdi looked back at the palace with distaste. “Of course I’m going to get him out. There are just a few things I need to do first. You need to go now.”

“But you’re going to get Sed out,” Nik confirmed. He followed her out the gates of the stables and past the guards. He moved with the same silence that was taught by the streets. He looked up at her. “You’re going to get the prince to let him out or something?”

Aladdi mustered a smile. “Oh, yes. The prince and I are already great friends. I just need to get some things done before I ask him. Sed’s going to get out soon, I promise.”

Nik smiled and was gone into the night. Aladdi sighed and found her way back to the stables, where she sat for a long time thinking. She didn’t move a muscle until the guards switched posts, then she slipped back inside to her bedchamber. She paced the floors for what seemed like hours more, until the stone under her feet became cold as the last of the servants beneath the castle finally went to sleep and everybody was snoring. Finally Aladdi leaned against her bed and her surroundings faded away into darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Aladdi woke the next morning with an ache in her back and an urgent knocking on her door. 

She had dropped off last night, quite literally. Aladdi found herself still half-standing, her stiff legs braced against the tall mattress of the bed in the middle of the room. She blinked several times and stood to climb between the sheets. 

In the meantime, the knocking didn’t stop. Katin’s voice was frantic from the other side of the door. The girl finally announced that she was going to come in, and Aladdi stuck her head under the covers seconds before the servant girl cracked the door open. She sighed relief. “Thank goodness, my lady, you’re all right.” She came in and started to put the room in order, chattering as she worked. “When I didn’t hear from you, I was worried something had happened.”

Aladdi breathed her own relief and feigned sleep while Katin kept talking. “You can’t tell because there’s no window in this room, my lady, but it’s a beautiful day. The sky is bluer somehow,” the girl mused on her way back into her own room with Aladdi’s gown from the night before draped over her arm. Aladdi, smiling a little and thinking that the girl must have had a visit from Nik last night as well, reluctantly gave up the warm sheets and slipped into a blue silk robe. She tied on her veil and was busy remaking the bed when Katin came back in.

The girl gave a little gasp. “Oh, no, I can do that! What on earth would be my job if I didn’t?” She took the sheet corners from Aladdi and gave the older girl a careful smile. 

Aladdi sighed and stood in front of the mirror to retie her veil under her hair. “What will I be expected to do today?” She asked the question rather absentmindedly, but started to listen about halfway through the list that Katin started to ramble off. “-- and there’s to be a midday meal for the ladies and their handmaidens to meet each other, then I think tonight there’s the first ball. How exciting!”

Aladdi frowned. “Didn’t we all meet each other last night?” The less polite conversation she was required to make, the better.

Katin giggled. “The banquet last night was an introduction to the sultan and the prince. The prince won’t be there at the meal this afternoon-- which I suppose is rather soon. You slept late into the day, my lady.”

Aladdi felt a little disappointment sneak into the back of her mind at hearing that the prince wouldn’t be at the meal, but she ignored it. She didn’t ignore the annoyance at the way this was playing out. She would be expected to attend the meal, but nothing that might happen there would be worth any of her time. She was there to steal the war plans, save Sed, and get out. 

But Katin helped her to find pale yellow robes, of thin material that brushed her legs and made her look so much more a girl than she ever wanted any clothing to. Katin left Aladdi’s mane of hair loose and wild, found a pair of silk slippers, and led her through the hallways toward the opposite end of the palace.

The room they entered was a little smaller than the banquet room from the night before, but no less exquisite. More beautiful tapestries covered three walls, several dozen couches scattered across the floor. Pillars along one end of the room separated the ladies from the beautiful gardens. Aladdi glimpsed a few fountains and a white painted birdcage before she was announced and led to a couch near the center of the room.

It only took Aladdi a moment to notice that the nobility present were looking at her. Every once in a while, a princess or a servant would whisper behind her hand and glance sideways at Aladdi. Her muscles tensed, and she faked a smile at the lady nearest her who seemed to be content to sit there and stare at her. 

She started to wish more than ever that she hadn’t had to make such an entrance into the palace. News must have spread by now that Princess Aleria had been betrayed by her escort on the way to the palace and now she was being served by a kitchen girl. Her veil also drew attention, and all her hopes of slipping in unnoticed and having freedom to sneak around the palace were starting to disappear. She was here, but it was all for nothing if all eyes were going to be on her for the next seven days. 

Aladdi realized that she was frowning and forced her face to relax into a natural, pleasant expression. All the other ladies around her wore the same blank smile, just as much a veil as the fabric hiding Aladdi’s face was. Aladdi took advantage of this to watch the handmaidens, who were much more interesting. The young girls were stealing glances at the rich tapestries on the walls and the ladies’ lovely robes, grinning shyly at each other and giggling once or twice.

Aladdi’s gaze swept across the group of servants and went wide as they settled on one young girl with lighter hair than the others. She was by one of the pillars, readjusting the shawl of an older woman in a tight blue gown. Aladdi wasn’t sure why the girl had caught her eye until she saw another little girl in her face, the biggest of Rood’s little sisters. These handmaidens weren’t just there for the ladies’ services or for Aladdi’s curiosity. They had families and homes, homes that were being torn apart by the war ravaging Akraba and the surrounding countries. 

As she watched the women around her, Aladdi regarded them with a new and sharp contempt. They turned their nose up at the cake with the least icing, but they didn’t know that Sed saved every bit he earned and stole all year to buy his sister just one slice on her birthday. 

The feasts at the palace and the selection of the prince’s bride were something Aladdi didn’t often think about. That talk was the kind of thing village girls daydreamed about in secret, giggled about with their friends on the street corners while they stood on tiptoes to look at the palace and while their parents worked to clean the streets. They would marry the village boy who teased them when they were small, and grow perhaps to never even catch a glimpse of the man on whose shoulders their lives and their world rested. Or his wife.

Aladdi had always avoided thinking of herself among these girls. She couldn’t afford that simple of a life. But looking between the royalty and their servants around her, she realized exactly how little these women knew or cared about the country they were trying to marry into. 

A servant stood in the doorway to announce that it was time for the nobility to get ready for the ball in a few hours. Rising with the other ladies to leave the room, Aladdi felt a fierce rush of pleasure that she was doing something to thwart these people. She was doing more to hurry the end of this war than anybody in the palace.

Katin didn’t let her fume long. The younger girl welcomed her into their chambers with a whirlwind of preparation and giggling excitement. Aladdi just smiled a little to herself, letting Katin sit her down and start to do her hair while Aladdi thought about a blue tunic and a pair of warm brown eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

Aladdi groaned.

When she had pictured getting ready for a royal ball, of having her hair tied up in plaits and twists, watching all the different gowns shimmer as she and Katin tried to choose just one, slipping her feet into the softest of satin slippers, it all seemed so perfect and luxurious, almost romantic.

In reality, it was more boring than anything she had ever done. Aladdi had been sitting perfectly still for what was probably hours, while Katin tried one hairstyle after another. The servant girl was accustomed to the veil now, and worked strands of Aladdi’s hair around it while she piled every lock on top of Aladdi’s head until it looked like a bee’s nest. With one look from Aladdi, Katin shook her head and laughed, taking the pins back out one by one.

Finally, the younger girl threw up her hands. “I am giving up! Your hair looks nicer loose anyway.”

Aladdi watched Katin move to the wardrobe, pulling out one garment after another. Then she pulled a beautiful blue dress from behind the rest. The silk was scattered with beads of silver and gold, and Aladdi was reminded of a sky deepening into a sunset, new stars dancing across the horizon. 

Aladdi’s breath caught in her throat, and Katin held the gown up to her with a secret smile and rummaged in the bottom of the wardrobe for a pair of gold shoes. 

Later, when Aladdi was dressed and fixing her sash in the mirror, Katin walked up, something hidden behind her back. She had ducked out of the chambers with a blush, returning to stand behind Aladdi in front of the mirror. Sheepishly, she handed Aladdi a gold beaded veil. “I have a hunch that you’ll match the prince tonight,” she said. Aladdi had to keep herself from hugging the girl, but gave her a bright smile and turned to tie the veil across her face.

Turning back, she struck a dramatic pose. “Ready?”

Katin let out a surprised laugh, and suddenly it felt like the two of them were friends, like the other girl knew who she was, like she didn’t have to hide.

It only lasted a moment, and then Aladdi remembered the veil hiding her face, and how her friends on the streets were counting on her. How in a week if she left this place empty handed, she would have to sleep on Rood’s floor and go hungry until she found another job. She did have to hide. If she didn’t, it was all over.

Katin’s smile turned to a strange look. “Are you well, my lady?”

Aladdi shook her head as if to shake loose the thoughts that she didn’t want to think. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Katin chuckled. “Well, don’t look forward to getting any sleep tonight. These balls are the most exciting events of the year; they usually go past dawn.”

Aladdi just gave the girl a tired smile and twisted a few of her curls around one finger. Katin grabbed a small gold purse from the table by Aladdi’s bed and fit the string around Aladdi’s wrist. Katin gave her one last sweeping look. “I think you’re ready! The ballroom is down the hall and to the right. You can follow the sound of music.”

Aladdi blinked. “You’re not coming?”

Katin laughed again, a twinkling sound to cover up the disappointment in her eyes. “I need to help serve at the banquet. But I’ll be sure watch you dance with the prince over and over and be the prettiest lady in the room.”

Aladdi gave Katin an apologetic smile and walked out of her room, down the hall the servant girl had pointed out. She walked shakily on the heels of the golden slippers, wishing Katin were still by her side, wondering how she could find her way to the war plans.

Music came drifting into the hallway, and Aladdi followed it into a huge room overflowing with yellow light. She stopped at the edge of the room, her toes just dipping into the ring of sparkling light and laughter and beautiful music. She took a deep breath, marching into the room and listening as Princess Aleria of the sister kingdom was announced. They still hadn’t been able to figure out which sister kingdom she had been speaking of, and asking questions wasn’t considered polite among Akraba nobility.

Nobody was dancing yet, just milling around the banquet table set up at one end of the room. Servants carried trays with little bundles of fruit, miniature cakes and delicate glass goblets filled with amber liquid. Aladdi made a mental note to steer clear of the drinks, partly because she needed to be alert, and partly because nobody else at this ball would be doing the same.

A second later, the musicians in the corner began a traditional tune and the prince announced the dancing. It seemed like people came and left the banquet table as they wished, leaving to dance and returning when they were hungry again. Aladdi stood by the wall, watching the prince dance stiffly with one woman after another. 

Meanwhile, she let herself be lost in swirls of rich food and music and the warm breezes from the large windows where curtains fluttered like so many white wings. She was contemplating stealing outside like a few people had done, or slipping back into the hallway to search the palace, when a voice by her ear caught her attention.

Her head jerked up at the prince, dressed splendidly in blue and gold, giving her a genuine and amused smile. “Are you hiding?”

Aladdi almost turned to hide her face before she remembered her veil. She smiled politely, curtsying and casting about for something appropriate to say. “It is a lovely ball,” she finally said.

Prince Jas frowned. “You do not seem to be enjoying it.”

Aladdi just nodded her head stiffly and said, “to be sure, Your Highness, I am.”

He looked at her, any amusement on his face replaced by perplexity. “I feel that we have met somewhere before. From where did you travel here?”

She froze. He couldn’t possibly recognize her from the marketplace... But her expression remained smooth and polite as she pulled off a passable curtsey. “I apologize, Your Highness, I did not introduce myself. I am Princess Aleria, from your sister country.”

The prince smiled. “Ah, yes. You escaped the mutiny. I hope you have found yourself comfortable here.”

Observing that nobility hardly ever gave information about themselves, Aladdi just smiled. “It is a beautiful palace. I regret that I shall not be seeing much of it but the ballroom.” She winced then, cursing herself for allowing her thoughts to slip into her words. The prince would not appreciate such thinly veiled requests to see other parts of the castle, even if his thoughts went straight to gardens and hallways, and hers to the chamber holding that precious scroll of war plans.

Prince Jas interpreted her frown as an accompaniment to her words, and he laughed. “So you are not fond of the ballroom, despite your insisting how beautiful it is. Perhaps if you were to view the room from the dance floor, it would better please you.”

Aladdi laughed despite herself, realizing too late that this was Prince Jas’s way of asking her to dance. “Even if you guess right and I am not fond of the room, trust me, Your Highness, that I am far less fond of dancing.”

The prince looked genuinely surprised. “I thought that every young lady was fond of dancing.”

Aladdi just stared at him, not quite believing he had just said that. “And if I were to say that I thought every young man was fond of gambling, what would be your reply?”

Prince Jas shook his head. “I should reply that it may be enjoyable to some, but it is not the way I would choose to spend my time--” The realization registered on his face, and then he smiled. “I see your point, and stand corrected. I’ll have to issue a public apology to all the young women in my kingdom not prone to dancing.”

Aladdi laughed in spite of herself. The words “try all the young women of the world” left her lips before she stopped to think how infrequently the Prince was likely corrected, even admonished. Immediately she frowned. “I apologize, Your Highness. That was out of line.”

The prince smiled, though not in the same bright and carefree way he had a moment ago. “I should be the one apologizing. The ladies of this court do not speak to me much of anything but the ballroom, the dancing, and the food. I suppose I’ve grown to expect the same conversation every time I open my mouth in a place such as this.”

“That must be a dull life to lead,” Aladdi blurted.

His eyebrows seemed to have decided to remain risen in surprise. “It can be a dull social life, yes. But if it can lead to something good for my country in the future, it will all be repaid me.”

Aladdi raised her own eyebrows, thinking back to her life in Akraba, the dreams for change that gleamed in her head. “What do you propose to change, Your Highness?”

The prince began to grin, almost like he was excited to be asked the question. But a moment later he checked himself and stood up straighter. “Now I have been out of line. My father is a fair and good ruler, and it is not my place to criticize him.”

“Not yet,” Aladdi muttered. She almost felt bad that she had to steal from this man.

The prince said nothing, but she knew that he heard her. He clasped his hands behind his back and lapsed back into easy politeness. “And you are sure that you would not like to dance, Princess Aleria?”

She just smiled. “I am not as skilled a dancer as the ladies here. I would prefer to stand and watch, but thank you all the same.”

He nodded, and almost walked away, but he turned back. “I am not skilled at speaking in public, or at the sword. But I blame these shortcomings on my own lack of practice.” He raised an eyebrow and held out his hand.

Aladdi frowned, surprised to find him so insistent. Perhaps her own boldness had nudged him to be so. As little experience as she had with dancing, nobody refused the prince anything, especially not three times during the same conversation. So she gave him a shaky smile and took his hand, which was warm and strong. 

As soon as there was a break in the music, Jas (Aladdi wasn’t sure when she had begun to think of him as Jas) led her out into the center of the floor, the other dancers gladly making way for their prince. Aladdi saw the looks of envy on the faces of the ladies watching, and couldn’t help feeling some pride of how they looked, all in blue and gold, in the middle of the room. She looked about and wondered which one of these ladies would become the new queen. 

Gently, Prince Jas put one hand on the small of Aladdi’s back, helping her along in the steps of the dance. He was a good lead, his strong arms guiding her through the dance and making it seem as though she had actually so much as heard this song before. 

After a few measures, the prince looked away from his surroundings and into her eyes. “So, how are you enjoying your time at the palace?”

Aladdi smiled politely. “We have already covered that, Your Highness.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“We have conversed on the palace, the ballroom, and the dancing. I believe it is my turn to ask my own question.”

He gave her the same surprised smile. “Feel free to ask anything you like.”

Aladdi cursed herself for having tried to deflect his questions, for now she had to come up with one of her own. She hummed, looking at the ceiling for a moment. “When did you know that this was going to be your life?”

Jas looked around the ballroom, spinning her. Her blue skirt flared out, and she smiled, waiting for his answer. “The balls and banquets? Or ruling Akraba?”

“I apologize, Your Highness, I was speaking of the throne you shall claim. As a boy, did you know that the entire fate of the country rested on your shoulders?”

Prince Jas chuckled. “I suppose I have known from my childhood, but I must say, hearing it put like that makes me rather nervous. It has never been the burden you describe.”

Aladdi tried a light laugh. “Well, of course it hasn’t. Or you would have turned out a horrid hunchback.”

The prince laughed, deep and genuine, and his warm brown eyes smiled at hers. The music stopped, and she began to pull away to go back to her wall. But his hand tightened on the small of her back, and he gave her a soft smile. “Princess Aleria, would you do me the honor of another dance? I believe I prefer your questions to the running commentary on Akraban delicacies and fashion.”

Aladdi blushed and just nodded, letting him lead her to the middle of the floor again. They stood there, alone, while the other dancers found partners. If the looks from the other women in the room had been envy before, they were now making their way toward resentment. One woman, specifically, stared at her intently with a mixture of curiosity and loathing that was nearly unsettling. She had smooth black hair, twisted up on top of her head, and a lithe frame like those of the palace dancers, lean muscle on her long arms, bare in a red gown trimmed in gold. Her face was one of stark beauty, every angle sharp and every bit of concentration in her dark eyes directed toward Aladdi.

The prince was watching her, and let out a small chuckle. “Or we can just dance in silence. I make no objection.”

Aladdi laughed nervously, looking at her feet, aware of her sudden quietness after the barrage of witty quips. “I apologize,” she stammered, “I was focusing on the dance- this is an especially difficult step.”

“That is why it is my duty to lead,” he said, tipping her chin up to look at him. “Watch my eyes, not your toes. I promise I won’t step on them.”

“I can’t promise I won’t step on yours,” she joked, her eyes captive in his.

They danced through that song and another, and the looks of the other ladies in the room became pure hatred. Her mind tried to wander- to Sed, and the war plans, and the woman who was staring at her with eyes like knives. But the prince’s eyes, so intently locked on hers while he guided her through the dance, wouldn’t let her. 

The strange thing was, she really didn’t mind.


	13. Chapter 13

That night Aladdi lay awake. She was sure that dawn was coming, but she didn’t feel a bit tired- it was like the whole night of delicate foods and glittering jewels and yellow light had filled her up, and now it was all seeping into the dark room, echoes of bubbly laughter in her head. She could see the prince’s brown eyes in the blackness, smiling by themselves, without need of his mouth or the crinkles on his nose. Prince Jas’s face was haunting her, wouldn’t let her sleep.

Softly, she slid out of her tall bed and padded past Katin’s cot in the adjoined room. Slipping into the hallway, she wrapped her thin robe around her shoulders. It wasn’t cold, but the soft fabric made her feel protected somehow. 

She trailed her fingers along the wall, following her memory to the main hall, where she had begun. She knew that the guests’ rooms and ballrooms were on the south end of the palace, so she headed in the opposite direction. She snuck past a few guards posted at the mouth of a long hallway, and made her way down it, one hand on the wall again to guide her in the dark.

She tried to work her way downwards, taking a staircase whenever she found one. Sed's bright smile was haunting her eyelids, and Nik's face when she had seen him last, so confident that she was planning some daring rescue. So confident that Sed's suffering was more important than Orem's job.

Aladdi gritted her teeth. It was more important—it had to be. Those boys had been behind her for three years, while she struggled to make her way through the streets, to make her name as a dependable thief. They had even helped her with some of her smaller jobs, but she had never let them get in too deep, for fear that it was too dangerous...

For so long, she had feared what now had finally happened.

She took another staircase down, and the air grew warmer. She must be nearing the furnaces that heated the washing water and the floors in the nobles' rooms. 

This meant she was getting closer. Aladdi began to walk faster, down the staircases that were becoming less adorned, with occasional doorways opening to kitchens and servants' quarters. The air grew even hotter, until she was sweating, and then the warmth faded away as she made her way to the deepest reaches of the palace. With every flight of steps she thought she had reached the bottom, until finally the air grew cold again, cold and damp, and she knew that she was far underground.

She came to a barred door. She could hear gruff snores from the other side, and grinned to herself. Aladdi slipped one of the glittering pins out of her hair and deftly picked the crude lock. Inside, she stepped lightly past the two sleeping guards, and stalked down the hallway, tapping on the bars of one cell after another, whispering Sed's name.

Finally, she reached a cell and peered through the bars to see Sed's face. His wild grin was missing, but his eyes twinkled feebly when he saw her face. His voice was a low croak. "You come down here to visit the real prince of this place?"

Aladdi tried not to cry. She sat on the filthy floor and reached an arm through the bars. Sed shifted slowly, wincing, moving to sit closer to her. She gripped his hand with both of hers, and blinked away her tears. "Sed--"

"It's okay, Laddi. It's not your fault," he whispered.

She stared at the boy in front of her. He always knew how she felt. "I'm going to get you out of here," she insisted, her voice shaky.

He cracked a dry smile, looking around. "That sounds pretty good, but right now- don't be an idiot. The guards are about to switch watches, I think, so it's almost dawn. You need to go back upstairs."

She shook her head silently, holding tightly onto his hand. He gave her what he was trying to make a reassuring smile. "Go on. I'm not going anywhere."

This made her laugh, though it sounded strangely like a sob. She drew his dirty hand through the bars and kissed it, standing up. "I'll be back at nightfall. I promise--I'll bring you food and water, all right?"

Sed just nodded, settling back into the corner of his cell. Aladdi choked on another sob as she ran past the guards and back onto the stairs. She was just in time--behind her the guards started to stir. She barreled up so many steps that even her legs, which could jump between roofs and scale dozens of ladders at a time, were growing tired when she reached what she was sure was the corridor to her bedchambers. 

She slowed to a hurried walk in the dark, the occasional torch flickering. Counting the doors she passed, Aladdi turned a corner and began to hear footsteps behind her.

They were the footfalls of somebody heavier than she was, though it was much harder to tell any more from the smooth stone floor than the clay roofs in the marketplace. The footsteps grew closer, and Aladdi's heart began to race. She kept her walking pattern normal, but a few breaths later a hand touched her shoulder.

Her instincts taking over, Aladdi kicked back at the person's leg, knocking them off balance and then pulling on their arm. Two seconds later, the stranger was on the floor, and Aladdi was crouched over them with her knee on their chest.

She squinted in the dark to recognize the surprised face of Prince Jas. 

For one heartbeat, she had the prince of Akraba pinned to the ground, and he was just staring at her face with a strange expression.

His eyes weren't as trained to the darkness as hers were in that moment, so it took him a moment to recognize her. "Princess Aleria?"

The false name shook her from the fear of a lurking figure in the darkness. She jerked to her feet, brushing off her frock and reaching up to straighten a veil that wasn't there.

She stood with her fingers on her bare face for a moment while Prince Jas got up, not sure why the absence of her veil was so worrying.

As soon as the prince was on his feet, mouth open and about to speak, it came to her. Her eyes went wide, and she looked at the ground, hiding her face and fumbling through a clumsy curtsy. "My apologies, Your Highness," she muttered, and without another word, hurried down the hall into her chamber and slammed the door shut.


	14. Chapter 14

Aladdi raced back to her bedchamber, slamming the door behind her and standing with her back against the closed side. She was breathing hard, wide awake now as she sank to the floor right inside the door.

He had seen her face. It had been dark, but maybe not dark enough to recognize the girl from the street who had saved him that day in the marketplace. Aladdi closed her eyes and rested her head against the door, listening hard. She was waiting for the hammering footsteps of the soldiers coming to get her, but none came. Aladdi crouched on the floor by the door for what seemed like hours, listening to the silence on the other side of her door so intently that when a knock sounded across the room, her heart almost stopped beating.

The knock came again from the door to Katin's room, and Aladdi could breathe again. Katin called through the door, "my lady? Are you risen? We need to ready you for the festival today--the prince has requested your presence in his company!" She sounded excited.

Aladdi sighed, thoughts racing. "I am not well this morning. Please convey my apologies to the prince--I must rest today."

"Of course, my lady. Can I bring you anything?"

She thought of Sed's pained face, Nik's blind optimism, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Katin?"

"Yes, my lady?"

"I do not need your help today. Please, go to the festival--enjoy yourself."

"Th-thank you, my lady," Katin stammered from the other side of the door, and Aladdi could hear the wide grin on the girl's voice. She smiled a little, and stood up from the floor, walking across the chamber and sitting on the very edge of her bed. She tried to slow her breathing, lying back on the bed, staring at the stone ceiling. She ignored the sting of disappointment that she would not see the prince today, that her place by his side would be filled by another girl from another country. She closed her eyes against the thought, focusing on the freedom she would have today, to finally roam the halls, perhaps to find the war plans. And once she finally had them, had finally done the job...

Well, then she could leave the palace. Leave the drama, and the food, and the prince, never need to worry about it all again. She could go back to the streets, back to her friends. Rood and Nik would help her break Sed out of the dungeon.

As soon as she had the plans, she would leave the palace, and the prince.

That thought made her freeze as she dressed, standing in front of the mirror, and studying her own face as though if she looked closely enough, she would find the reason why the idea of going back to her own life made her want to go back to her chambers and climb into the comfortable bed, never to come out again.

Then she remembered the prince's face when he saw her, looking so stunned, like he could see behind her skin, behind her eyes, behind the door in her mind and into all her thoughts. She remembered that he probably knew by now who she really was, and she dressed hurriedly and waited until Katin left with bated breath, so that she could slip out and explore the halls.

Like the night before, Aladdi began in the entrance hall, from where she had counted her steps to every room she had entered. This time, she made her way toward the east end of the palace, into hallways she had not yet seen. The doorways became smaller and less grand, and there were fewer torches on the walls. 

The first few rooms Aladdi saw were small, and too close to the main hall to hold anything as secret as war plans, but she searched them anyway, sure to put everything back exactly where it had been. These chambers held desks, chairs, and shelves neatly stacked with rolls of parchment, but she found nothing. 

Frustrated, Aladdi walked faster, only glancing briefly through most doorways she passed. Closer to the center of the palace, there were a few grand chambers, scattered among offices and libraries. Aladdi came once to a room she was sure belonged to Prince Jas. A careful peek into the chamber showed her a neatly made bed, a desk cluttered with parchments. She froze before this door, but forced herself to walk on, reminding herself of his face the night before. And that the war plans would not be in the prince's personal chambers.

Finally she came to a locked door, at the end of one corridor. The room was tucked out of the way, and Aladdi's curiosity overcame her. She crouched by the keyhole, taking a pin out of her hair to pick the lock. 

Entering the room carefully, Aladdi wasn't sure that she had not entered another world. The entire chamber was filled with bizarre objects, items that would not seem quite so strange, had they not been locked away in the depths of a palace. 

Aladdi wandered throughout the room, as soon as she knew that she was alone. There was a rack of old weapons: spears that seemed to be vibrating constantly, and swords that were unrusted and free of dust, but still had obviously not been touched for what seemed like years.

Aladdi stepped toward a table full of odd dishes, and a cauldron wobbled menacingly on its bottom. She froze, but curiosity pulled her forward, toward a tarnished lamp that sat alone at the corner of the stone table.

She picked it up carefully by its handle, studying it. Surprised to hear what seemed like a mournful sigh coming from inside, Aladdi set it down and backed away, only to find herself thrown to the ground.

She lay on the floor, trying to recover her breath, and realizing what had happened. She had stepped back onto a thick rug. Aladdi almost didn't believe her own memory, but knew that somehow the carpet had pulled itself out from under her foot. Aladdi sat up gingerly, rolling off of the carpet, which seemed to ripple with relief. 

Amazed, Aladdi looked closer at the rug. It was beautiful, with gold tassels and embroidery that still shone clearly. Aladdi reached out to touch the gold-stitched image of a tiger's head, one of the four at each corner. The carpet rose from the floor to reach her hand, almost purring like a cat, eager to be petted.

Aladdi found herself smiling, stroking the edges of the carpet for a moment before standing to look around the room again. She heard a voice from the corridor and froze, holding her breath until it passed. Then, careful not to step again on the carpet, she snuck to the door and crept back in the direction of the main hall.

As Aladdi counted the doorways and turns she had passed, she heard a soft sound behind her, like the hem of a garment brushing the stone. She stopped, and the sound immediately quieted.

Frowning, Aladdi kept walking, but the second time she heard the brushing noise she turned back, racing around the last corner she had turned to find the beautiful carpet, rolled tight and tucked into the corner of the hallway, almost like it was hiding.

Aladdi grinned quizzically at the carpet, which was standing still like a child who didn't want to be found. Another pair of gruff voices came from the other end of the hall, however, and Aladdi hurried past the next few turns and ran to her chambers. 

When she arrived in her chambers, Aladdi knew it was later than she had realized. Having grown accustomed to the sounds of the palace, she noticed immediately that the floors were warm from the kitchens, and that there was a bustle, not completely muffled by the stone, coming from the floors beneath her. The prince would be arriving soon, and a hot meal would be ready for him and his companions after the long day.

Aladdi sighed, taking off her veil to splash cool water on her face, when a movement in the corner of her eye made her splutter, spilling water down her front and staring at the floor of her chamber. 

The beautifully embroidered rug was laid out on her floor, almost as though it had always been there. Aladdi stared at it, hard, and after a few moments of stillness the carpet seemed to reluctantly raise one of its tassels to wave at her.


	15. Chapter 15

Aladdi stumbled backwards, staring at the carpet on the floor. Carefully, she lifted her foot off the hem of the rug, and watched it seem to stand, rising up until it balanced on two corners. 

Aladdi smiled a little. The rug didn't have a face, but it seemed sheepish, as though embarrassed of itself for something. She reached out slowly, to feel the tassels on the edges of the carpet, smiling wider when it curved under her fingers, like a great rectangular cat arching its back in a yawn.

Aladdi yawned herself then, realizing how tired she was. Looking back at the carpet, she considered climbing up into her bed and shutting her eyes tight until she slept through the ball tonight. But at that moment, Katin's familiar footsteps pattered into the other room, and both Aladdi and the rug jumped at her voice on the other side of the door.

"My lady? Are you feeling better?" The girl's voice sounded a little distant, daydreamy and distracted. Despite her worries, Aladdi smiled at that.

Katin rapped on the door, calling Aleria's name again, and Aladdi scrambled to the bed, slipping under the covers. She watched the rug flatten on the floor, and then pulled the blankets over her head just as Katin came into the room.

The girl began to bustle about the room, tidying up the wardrobe and bed while she continued her chatter. "I'm sorry, my lady, I didn't realize that you were asleep. Good thing you've had some rest. The ball this evening is to be quite an event, and the prince was telling the ladies all about the festivities carrying through to dawn-"

Aladdi winced at the idea of Jas surrounded by tittering women, but blinked the image out of her mind while she pretended to wake up slowly, shifting under the blankets and stretching her arms toward the ceiling. Katin smiled at her as she peeked her eyes out of the blankets, and hurried out of the room so that Aladdi could get up and put on her robe. Instead, Aladdi jumped out of bed already fully clothed, and gave the carpet on the floor a wary glance. It seemed perfectly still, and not hurt by Katin's feet on it, but Aladdi was careful not to walk over it just in case.

Katin came back into the chamber soon, and headed straight to the wardrobe to pull out robes of a soft orange, the color of the setting sun, or the inside of Aladdi's favorite melons. Aladdi smiled carefully as she slipped her arms into the soft sleeves, and Katin plaited her hair with small jeweled pins that sparkled like flowers in her wild hair. Aladdi put on a pair of slippers, marveling at how there was a different pair for every color she had ever seen, in tidy rows on a shelf. 

Katin sent her out into the hallway on her own again, and Aladdi was slow on her way to the besting hall, wondering how she was going to avoid the prince. When she arrived at the doorway, as the small fanfare sounded to announce her and the three other ladies who came trailing behind her, she spotted Jas across the room. He looked up to give her an expectant frown, and immediately she veered toward a table of food, plucking a small cube of fruit from the silver platter.

She couldn't hide for long, however.

"I did not see you at the festival this afternoon," Aladdi heard Prince Jas's voice behind her say.

She didn't turn around. "I was not feeling well, Your Highness."

He touched her elbow lightly, sounding perplexed. "I requested your presence- I wished to see you."

"You have my apologies, Your Highness," Aladdi murmured, still not looking at him.

The moderation and formality in the prince's tone wavered, and he looked around. "Of course I do not ask for an apology. Just a moment of your time, if you would allow me." He lifted his fingers from her elbow just to thread his arm through hers, leading her away.

Aladdi just curtsied, and followed him hesitantly out of the ballroom, through the pillars and onto one of the palace's many balconies, hanging over the gardens. 

The hot, dry night made the fragrance of hundreds of flowers even more pleasant, and Aladdi watched as servants dressed in black bustled about, sprinkling each plant with water that would have been precious in the city. Aladdi turned her face away from that picture, the smell of the garden catching in her throat, the sweetness of the flowers choking her as she thought of the chapped lips and sweatless foreheads of her friends' brothers and sisters. 

Meanwhile, the prince had broken away and was standing a few feet off, looking at her with that same perplexed expression. He clasped his hands behind his back, and then in front, didn't seem to be able to stop moving while he watched her. Aladdi laced her own fingers properly in front of her, trying to stay still and keep her eyes on the ground.

He clasped his hands behind his back again, elbows out as he looked out over the garden. He took a deep breath, and spoke quietly, as though afraid. "Why do you wear your veil, my lady?"

Aladdi blinked. Something like wearing a veil was usually a private matter, something hardly discussed and never pried into. She had not thought to prepare an answer to this question.

Aladdi bit her lip, and looked away. The prince took a few steps toward her, looking concerned. "I do not mean to embarrass you, Princess Aleria, I just do not understand. Others here keep saying that you must be covering your face because of some deformity..."

Aladdi bit her lip.

"But a face as beautiful as yours- how could anyone bear to hide it?"

Aladdi's gaze jerked up to his, and she felt her cheeks go warm. A small, secret smile played over her lips before she realized that he expected an answer to his question. She let her brow furrow, thinking. "I am afraid you could not begin to understand."

Prince Jas gave her the same puzzled smile. "And if you were to begin to explain it to me?"

Aladdi let herself laugh, not the tinkling, airy giggle that echoed throughout the ballroom, but a laugh straight from her stomach, genuine as she imagined sitting Prince Jas down to walk her through the whole tragic story that was her life.

Jas kept looking at her, and she sighed out the rest of her laughter. "You would miss the rest of the ball, and the next couple of meals, I assure you."

Jas's eyes were narrowed now, and Aladdi's heart beat fast at the suspicious expression. But he didn't ask any more questions, just let out a blustery sigh. "Have you any idea how baffling you are, my lady?"

Aladdi frowned a little, but laughed again. "Oh, yes. It is part of my charm- haven't you noticed?"

The prince raised his eyebrows, but laughed along with her. He leaned against the railing of the balcony, and Aladdi stood by politely while he looked her over again. As he studied her face, Aladdi looked past him into the hot night. Just then, a strange creature rose from behind the railing to spread itself out, like a backdrop, setting Prince Jas's profile off a beautiful, embroidered background.

Aladdi's eyes went wide. The carpet- the magic carpet- was hovering upright in the air behind the prince's head. Her heartbeat sped doubly.

Meanwhile, the prince had not yet noticed the strange artifact that Aladdi had freed from its secret museum. He was still musing, and thoughtful smile on his face. "I still cannot believe that you were betrayed by your company- you sent them back to their home country?"

Aladdi stiffened a little. "Yes."

"Not many girls- ladies, I apologize- could get by on the journey into my city." He nodded approvingly. "I am impressed."

She just smiled, giving him a deep nod in place of a grateful curtsey to accept the compliment. Every muscle in her body was taut, worried that his next question would be where she came from. Sure enough, he opened his mouth.

That moment, the sultan came out from among the pillars. The magic carpet dropped behind the railing again as the man waddled over to his son with a beaming smile between his bright cheeks. "There you are, my boy!" The sultan clapped Jas on the back. Jas was at least a head taller than his father, but he looked at the little man like the sultan was as tall as a mountain and as wise as an elephant.

The little man was still smiling, reminding his son to attend to his other guests. It was then that he glanced at Aladdi, then turned his kind smile onto her, taking her hand in both of his. "And Jasper, who is this ravishing young lady?"

Jas gave Aladdi a look that was difficult to decipher. "Father, this is Lady Aleria, from our sister country."

The sultan simply beamed wider, though his voice adopted a kind concern. "Of course, the mutiny. I hope you are well and have found yourself comfortable here, my dear girl."

Aladdi smiled shyly back at the sultan. She liked him- some of his subjects laughed at his round frame and short stature, or how his face flushed when he was excited, but she saw a kind of strength and wisdom behind the sultan's light, watery eyes. It seemed unfair that she should blame him for the poverty, crime, and starvation in his country.

The sultan kissed her hand politely, and then gave the prince a discreet nod with his head toward the ballroom. Jas nodded back a little reluctantly, and turned back to Aladdi as the sultan walked away. "May I accompany you back into the palace?"

She was a little distracted by the carpet, which seemed to be beckoning her with one of its tassels like a tiny silk hand. She smiled politely at the prince. "I would stay outdoors for a while. The air in the ballroom is rather stuffy, and your gardens are beautiful."

The prince nodded, and as he walked away, Aladdi hurried to the edge of the balcony to look over the edge at the carpet, which had laid itself out in midair right next to the railing, like a boat ready to board. She smiled a little to herself, and stepped up and over the edge, her feet landing on the soft carpet, which felt like her sand bed mat in her hovel, firm under her feet.

As she stepped down with the other foot and she and the carpet sank beneath the railing onto the balcony, she heard quick footsteps above her and the prince calling, "Aleria! What are you doing? Guards!"


	16. Chapter 16

Aladdi crouched down, gasped as Prince Jas leaned out over the balcony, alarmed. The footsteps of the men he had called hurried somewhere behind him. He expected to look down at her on the ground, but instead his face came within inches of hers, his breaths warm on her cheeks.

The shocked expression on the prince's face only deepened, and Aladdi put a finger on her lips. Jas looked confused, but he straightened to turn back to the guards with a nervous laugh. "My apologies, men. I thought I saw something I did not. Thank you- you may go back in to the feast now."

The guards' gruff voices thanked their prince, and Aladdi heard them lumber back into the ballroom. The prince's head then reappeared over the balcony, and he looked like he had just seen a camel with three heads. "What on earth are you doing? My lady," he added hurriedly.

Aladdi let out a hearty laugh, tugging on one of the rug's tassels in hopes that it would get the message. It did, rising a few more feet from the ground so that the prince could see the beautiful rug under Aladdi's knees.

Jas's face lit up like a little boy's on festival day, touching the embroidered tiger's head on the corner of the rug. "What is that thing?"

Aladdi's face went a little warm, but she kept her voice steady through the lie. "It was wandering the halls. Why, Your Majesty, you do not keep your flying carpets locked away in this country?"

He looked puzzled for a moment, before he realized that she was joking. He laughed then, and reached out to stroke the edge of the rug. "It is flying? I am not dreaming? This is no trick with mirrors, or wires?"

Aladdi didn't even try not to roll her eyes. "Yes, Highness, this is an elaborate ruse to draw you out off the balcony only to fall to your death."

The carpet seemed to understand what she wanted it to do, even if she didn't tug on its tassels. It rose into the air, flew in a playful circle, then came back to rest alongside the balcony.

The prince looked dumbstruck, staring at the magic carpet and then at her. Aladdi laughed again, standing up. "Come on, let's go for a ride."

Jas looked at the carpet, then down at the ground. He swallowed, fidgeting. "I do not think that is a good idea. I must go back inside and attend to my guests."

Aladdi wouldn't have believed him, even if his eyes had not been locked, terrified, on the ground far below them. She tried not to laugh, fingers in front of the veil in front of her mouth. "You are afraid of the height!"

Jas actually glared at her, fingers clenched tight at his sides. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"You are, you are afraid of falling!" She did laugh now. "How can you live up high in this palace with that fear?"

Prince Jas snapped, gesturing nervously with his hands. "This palace is made of thousands of slabs of stone! No sane person would step onto a finger-thick piece of embroidery hanging so far above the ground! You cannot tell me this is safe!"

Aladdi raised her eyebrows at the question of her sanity, but kept smiling. She reached her hand toward him. "Well, do you trust me?"

Jas blinked a little too long, hesitating. "What?"

She just smiled boldly, picking up his hand from where it hung, limp, at his side. "I said, do you trust me?"

His eyes were unsure, but there was a smile on his lips. He drew out the word, "Yes." And he stepped with a shaky leg onto the carpet beside her.

Still holding her hand, Jas sat down, crossing his legs and moving over so that there was room for Aladdi to sit with him. When they were both settled on the carpet, she gave Jas a sly smile and tugged the tassels, pulling the carpet farther and farther from the ground until the light from the palace window was smaller than the tip of her small finger.

Aladdi didn't even think as the carpet zoomed on its own through the streets of the city, frightening the children sleeping on the street and ruffling the tattered coverings on the street where the market would be during the day. Jas frowned when he noticed the dirty streets, the little huddles of children sleeping in alleys on this brisk night.

The prince looked more and more upset while the carpet did loops through the streets, so Aladdi led them up through the sky, carefully tugging harder and harder on the tassels until they could see the entire palace and its gardens, a speck in the miles of desert around them.

They flew right along the bottom of the clouds, droplets of moisture catching on Aladdi's hair and face and she shivered a little, pulling the carpet above the clouds and looking over the fantastical silver landscape, looking like the downy feathers from her bed had been spilt over the sky. She heard the prince draw in a quick breath at the view, felt his chest against her back expand, fill with cold air. Her own heart beat a little faster, and she shivered again, tightening her fingers around the tassels to stop them from trembling.

Aladdi stopped pulling on the tassels, but gripped the front edge of the carpet and looked back to give the prince a mischievous grin. His eyes went wide in anticipation, and involuntarily he grabbed her waist, holding on tight with his strong, warm hands. Aladdi's heart started beating in her ears, but soon the sound of the wind drowned it out as she let the carpet plunge toward the ground. 

Aladdi spread her arms and laughed into the wind, and Jas chuckled nervously behind her. Looking back at him, she saw him covering his eyes with his other hand. She reached up to pull his fingers away from his face, crying over the wind, "don't you dare!" 

He laughed back at her, his eyes afraid, but open.

The carpet pulled up just as they would have run into the sand, and started skimming over the dunes outside the city. The carpet's tassels swished in the sand as it flew, kicking up billowing dust behind them. The night was silent but for the sound of Aladdi's heart, the prince breathing against her hair, the sand shifting in the wind.

Aladdi took a breath, trying to let her voice come out light and friendly. "So, Prince Jasper, is it?"

Jas blushed, shaking his head. "It was my mother's father's name. He hated my father, so the sultan refused the name with every breath, wanting to name me after one of his ancestors. Then, when my mother died, he shut himself up and did not speak for days. The first time he left his study, he asked my nurse to bring me to him, and called everybody in the palace into the main hall, announcing that my name was Jasper."

Aladdi let out a breath that was almost a sigh. "That's beautiful."

Jas shrugged. "It is a beautiful story, but it is just a stone."

Aladdi frowned. "Jasper symbolizes protection and nurturing. I think your name was supposed to give you the things you lost when you lost your mother."

Jas looked at her thoughtfully. "And that is a beautiful thought, my lady." He leaned back onto one of his elbows, and Aladdi wondered if he realized that he was still holding her hand. "Where does Aleria come from, may I ask?"

Aladdi stiffened again at the false name, but she smiled cheerfully at him. "A boring family name to appease a jealous great aunt who was never invited to the wedding. Expect no interesting stories from my history, Your Majesty."

The carpet was wandering back in the direction of the palace, floating slowly above the streets while Jas looked at her with eyes she could not read.

Aladdi frowned. "What are you thinking, Your Highness?"

He sighed as they came up to the same balcony that they had left, a thousand years ago it felt. He dismounted shakily and held out his hand to her once his feet stood on firm stone. "I am thinking of what on earth I am going to do."

She just smiled politely, stepping down onto the balcony, then stepping away from the prince. He didn't take his eyes off her, and she felt obligated to respond, so she forced a light giggle. "Well, as well as you know me, you know that these social politics are not my strength."

She read his eyes as suspicion now, and as his mouth opened to respond she felt the urge to climb back onto the magic carpet and fly far away.

Instead, she kept her eyes trained on the floor, and she heard the prince say, "no. As well as I know you, I am beginning to think you are not what you seem."


	17. Chapter 17

Had she seen the look on his face as he said the words, heard the admiration on his voice, Aladdi would not have felt like running away as quickly as she could.

But she didn't look, and instead she thought of all the guards that stood just inside the ballroom at the prince's command, and her heart beat so quickly she was sure she would faint. So Aladdi curtseyed, muttering something about a headache, and hurried for the door. But Jas reached out, catching her hand. As soon as she looked at him, his face melted into a puzzled smile. “Aleria,” he whispered.

“Don’t call me that.”

Jas frowned. “What should I call you?”

Aladdi shook her head violently. “Nothing. Don’t call me anything. You-- you shouldn’t be calling me anything.”

“I will not accept that,” he blurted, and Aladdi froze.

There was a long pause. 

Prince Jas blinked and he took both their hands up between them, eyes still on Aladdi’s. 

She bit her lip, and suddenly he let go of her hands, reaching up and behind her hair to untie her veil. Too stunned to stop him, Aladdi just blinked into his eyes, and then Jas was dipping his head to touch his lips to hers. She stood, shocked, her fingers tightening around his, and he kissed her.

The prince pulled back a second later, looking at Aladdi with eyes that she couldn’t read. She stared at him, stunned, her mind buzzing and yet gone completely blank. “Why-- why did you do that?”

“One more time and I might have an explanation,” he muttered. Carefully he took her waist in his hands, one still holding her veil, and pulled her to him, fitting his mouth to hers. 

The prince kissed her softly, slowly, holding her like she could break, like she was an eggshell against his chest. She pulled away too soon, and got one look at Jas's eyes, so close to hers now, and they looked soft, and kind, and safe. His hands found hers and he held her fingers gently again, his thumb rubbing across her knuckles.

Carefully, Aladdi pinched the corner of her veil, but did not pull away her hands. "Do you have an explanation, Your Highness?" she asked in half a whisper.

Jas just looked at their hands, his brown cheeks tinged with pink. "I must go in to the feast. Will you join me?"

Aladdi finally took a deep breath, pulling her hands away along with her veil. "In a moment, Your Majesty, if I may."

She watched the prince walk away, straightening his clothes and brushing the water droplets from his hair before he reentered the ballroom. Aladdi set her fingertips against her lips, standing perfectly still until the chatter inside swelled with Prince Jas's return, the sounds carrying out onto the balcony and lurching her back to reality.

Aladdi ran her fingers over her own hair, laid her shaking hands against her robe, and slipped back into the ballroom. Busying herself with the food on the table, she picked up a goblet filled with cool water and then forgetting about it as she stood at the edge of the room, watching the prince from afar.

Unexplainable tears were pinching at the corners of her eyes when a voice, quiet but not soft, spoke right behind her shoulder. "You're running out of time," it said. 

Aladdi spun to face the sharp-faced woman who had been watching her at the last ball. She almost didn't remember to use her accent. "Excuse me?"

The woman glanced around at the room, almost like she was making sure nobody could hear them. "That's the message Orem gave me to send you."

Aladdi stiffened immediately, checking right away that the prince was across the room, chatting cheerfully with his father. 

The woman was tall, much taller than Aladdi, and she bent to give Aladdi a sickly sweet smile. "Oh, don't worry. I won't give away your secret. Though it did take me a while to figure it out. That everybody in Akraba thinks the famous Shadow Walker is a stunted man, and here I find a little girl! I was almost impressed."

Aladdi didn't loosen her shoulders, already didn't trust the woman beside her, who kept talking. "Either way, Orem says to tell you that you are running out of time. He has already changed your deadline to the one set by his employer- at the full moon. You have seven days, but you had better do your job now, and stop mooning over that child prince. You know there's no use anyway."

Aladdi's fists began to bunch, although she didn't yet understand the woman's words. "What are you trying to say?" she asked, maintaining the same smooth, polite tone that the other woman used. 

The woman gave her another smile, and fixed a lock of Aladdi's hair in a motherly way that made Aladdi want to slap her. "Oh, no need to get your feathers ruffled. We are on the same side, you and I."

"What side is that?"

The woman looked at her own reflection in the shiny surface of her goblet, which Aladdi noticed held water, instead of wine. She had taken the same precaution. The woman's expression when she looked at Aladdi again was completely smooth, and she smiled the same smile that sent shudders down her spine. "Well, I am in a slightly different line of work, but the two of us, we have the same goal."

Aladdi's fingers were getting white around the stem of her own glass, and she tried not to widen her eyes, not to look like a child next to this woman. 

She saw the expression anyway, and let out a tinkling laugh. "My dear, you are here to steal the battle plans, correct?"

Aladdi looked around the room anxiously. The prince was closer, but still heard nothing. Everybody else was distracted by a joke the sultan had just told. She looked back at the woman and gave her a tiny nod.

The woman nodded back, and met Aladdi's eyes with her own steady gaze. "You do your own job, and do it quickly. As for me, I am here to take care of the prince."

She raised her goblet toward the smaller girl as if for a toast, gave her another knowing smile, took a long drink, and then left Aladdi stranded without breath in the middle of the room.


	18. Chapter 18

It took Aladdi a few moments to gather herself, hurrying over to where the prince was standing. A special smile seemed to cross his face when he saw her, but Aladdi couldn't think about that now. Especially now.

Aladdi touched Jas's elbow, careful to give a polite smile to the man he was talking to. "Your Highness, may I speak with you?"

He smiled again, a little quizzically, and followed her a few feet away after apologizing to his companion. "What is it, Aleria? You seem distressed."

Aladdi wiped the look off her face, and tried to assume a calm tone. She glanced at the woman, who was chatting with several men in the uniform of the sultan's trusted attendants. "Your Majesty, who is the lady in the red robes, speaking with your men?" 

The prince followed her gaze and stiffened, almost as much as Aladdi had the first time the woman had spoken. "Why do you ask me this?"

Aladdi took a small step back, watching his face. "Why do you not answer?" she asked carefully.

He was hesitant to meet her eyes, and kept glancing back to the woman in red. "Did she say something to you?"

He was anxious, but not for the same reason she was. It made her heart beat a little faster. "You are making me nervous, Jas." He looked round at her, surprised. "Your Highness," Aladdi corrected herself. "I apologize." He kept looking at her, and she looked away at the woman. "Who is she?"

He sighed. "She is Princess Jara, from the country of Fariz."

Aladdi frowned, cursing herself for not seeing it before. "Fariz. That is the nation with which you are at war. Why is she here?"

The prince kept looking at her, too carefully. "We did not expect any noblewomen from Fariz to come here, because of the war. But now that she is here, my father and his advisors are anxious for me to marry her, to soothe the bad feelings between our countries."

Another lump joined the first in Aladdi's throat. "Do you know her well, then?"

The prince put his hands behind his back, like he did when he was nervous. Aladdi wasn’t sure when she had begun to notice these things. "I had never seen her before this week, Aleria." 

It felt like a defense, and Aladdi felt like walking away. She wasn't angry, or didn't think she was, but gave the prince an abrupt curtsey, and said that she needed to speak with somebody across the room, hurrying away before he could call her back.

Still, she couldn't help listening hard, in case he did call her back. He did not.

Aladdi tried to smile and hold herself properly while she gasped for air. Blinking a few pesky tears from her eyes, Aladdi snuck a loaf of bread, a lump of cheese, and some meat into the folds of her robes. She left the room, her feet leading her automatically back down the hall and the endless stairs. All the prince's guards were upstairs at the feast, so Aladdi walked boldly into the dungeons for the second time that day.

Creeping past sleeping prisoners, she finally came to Sed's cell. She crouched, reaching through the bars to shake his shoulder. Sed woke up slowly and reluctantly as always, and Aladdi frowned at the new bruises on his face and arms.

She started to sit on the floor. "Don't mess your pretty frock, Lady Aladdi," Sed joked feebly.

"Katin will clean it for me," Aladdi assured him with a wink.

Sed's eyes grew jokingly wide. "Nik's little friend? So you've seen her- does she have a lazy eye? An enormous nose? Or is she blind, perhaps?"

Aladdi nudged his shoulder gently. "Oh, hush. She is a very sweet, pretty girl."

"Hm." He considered. "Are we sure she's ever actually said a word to Nik then?"

Aladdi just rolled her eyes and laid out her silk skirt on the floor, laying out on it all the food she had brought. Sed quieted as she pushed pieces of bread and meat through the bars, and he ate like he hadn't in years.

Aladdi just watched Sed eat, not sure her turning stomach would keep the bread. Her friend looked up at her as he swallowed the last bit of crust, giving her one of his old smiles. "So, how about it? One kiss of pity for a dead man?"

Aladdi didn't answer and Sed laughed quietly. "Oh, Laddi, it was a joke."

Her eyes welled up suddenly, all the tears she'd repressed that night threatening to spill over. Sed reached through the bars and took her hand in his. "Don't worry, Laddi. They'll probably just rap me on the fingers and let me go in a couple of days."

His eyes didn't believe his lips. They both knew more likely Sed could lose a finger- a hand if he was very unlucky and the fruit vendor who had caught him was very vindictive.

Aladdi smiled at the effort anyway. Taking her robes close back around her, she stood and looked back at Sed. "I'm going to get you out of this place, you know that," she said.

"No rush," he said with one last smile, and Aladdi gave him half a laugh, then turned to head back up the stairs into the palace.


	19. Chapter 19

Everybody was still in the banquet hall, so Aladdi started down a corridor she hadn't yet searched. As she went through each room by room, she knew she was smiling even though she felt like crying, but she kept turning over pieces of parchment, refusing at the moment to figure out why she felt so strange.

Finally she found herself at the doorway into the sultan's chambers. She had avoided these rooms. She liked the sultan, and somehow stealing directly from him felt wrong, the first time she had thought twice about taking something from a noble.

Reluctantly, Aladdi walked into the room. The sultan's desks were littered with parchment slips and rolls, and there was a large colored map on the wall of Akraba, Fariz and other countries. Aladdi studied these a moment- it always amused her to see the places she had been all at once, count the cities where there were prices on her head. At least, it used to amuse her. Now, for the first time in a long time, it just made her afraid.

Aladdi ignored the tables by the sultan's bed, and noticed a little table stacked carefully with animal figurines. Again she stopped to admire the bright colored paint and intricate designs of the tiger, which was balanced on the rump of a giraffe and the head of a monkey. She smiled at the toys, then walked past them to a closed door in the corner.

Picking the lock quickly, Aladdi followed a narrow passage to another room, this one larger with one table and chair surrounded by a circle of seats. Aladdi noticed a map on the central table, then approached it to see arrows drawn on the parchment. A red arrow began at the capitol city of Fariz, a name Aladdi recognized as one of the first places where she could remember living. It trailed down along a river, and met a green arrow which came from Akraba. At the heads of the two arrows stood tiny wooden figures, rows of soldiers that faced each other or followed smaller arrows, splitting off to curl around their enemies like the legs of a desperate spider. Aladdi stared at the map, absorbing how many red soldiers there were compared to Akraba's, and thought how unfair it was that Fariz should obtain the one plan the sultan and his son had for facing their enemies.

Resigned to success, Aladdi looked around for more scrolls, which she found in a chest under the table. She collected combat orders and a smaller version of the map on the table, copying the arrows onto it with a quill from the sultan's desk. These papers she slipped into her robes, which luckily were loose enough to hide several tight scrolls as long as she walked with her back ramrod-straight.

She began to walk this way toward the door, eager to escape, when she glimpsed a tapestry on the wall. The beautiful threads depicted a grinning sultan with black hair instead of white, and a small and round-cheeked baby in a sky blue blanket. Standing with them was a beautiful woman with soft eyes and long hair, holding tight onto her baby Jasper.

Aladdi cursed to herself as the tears in her eyes blurred the lines of the tapestry, and she hurried out the door, locked it behind her, then started the way she came. Turning a corner, Aladdi stuffed the last roll of parchment into her sleeve. She slowed her breathing, ready to make her excuses to the first noble she found and leave. Leave. She would leave, go back to her friends and her life, back to her own world to figure out how to get Sed out of this one. She would leave and never see the prince again. Then those thoughts stopped dead in their tracks, and so did her feet.

The sultan, however, kept walking toward her, the same friendly smile on his face. "Lady Aleria!" His voice was jolly as he called her false name. "How nice to find you safe- your disappearance gave us quite a scare, but this palace is large and the halls can be confusing. May I help you back to the feast?"

Aladdi tried to smile, and slipped her hand through the elbow that he offered. "I apologize," she stammered, her thoughts racing again. "I did not mean to disturb the festivities, I was just-"

"Looking for something," the sultan finished for her, his smile still kind but no longer jolly.

Aladdi stared at him.

"If you don't mind hearing an observation, Princess," he continued in a perfectly casual voice. "You seem to be here for a reason, and not the reason for which the other ladies have come."

Aladdi allowed him to lead her toward the music, her tongue between her teeth as she tried to find a way to respond.

Finally, they reached the entrance to the ballroom and the sultan stopped walking and looked at her, patting her arm affectionately. Aladdi turned her wrist so that he could not feel the papers in her sleeve. "I hope you find what you are looking for, my dear girl. And I hope it truly does make you happier than you seem think my son would. He would marry you, you know," the sultan said with a wink.

Aladdi almost frowned at this as he released her arm, gave her a last smile, then turned to make his way back into the ballroom.

She stared after the prince's father, watched him waddle back into the crowd of nobles, then caught the prince's smile at an unheard joke, watched that smile blossom as he caught her eye.

Aladdi spun on a heel then, walking as fast as she could away from the noise and the light of the ball room, past the stairs that led to the dungeons, to her chambers. There she sat on the floor again, right inside the door, staring at the ceiling until the tears came like rain, slipping down her neck and seeping into the wrinkled and dusty silk of her gown.

Hearing Katin enter the other room, Aladdi crammed the war plans between the mattresses of her bed and then slipped out of her frock and into softer bedclothes. She worried for a moment about Katin's reaction to the state of her robes, but abandoned that thought, climbing into bed to bury her aching head in the pillows.

"He would marry you, you know." The sultan's words rang in her ears, sending images unheeded to her mind of herself standing by the prince's side, with no veil and a gold crown on her head. She was happy, and comfortable, and could care for Rood and Nik and Sed-

Sed. He was still in prison, and suddenly facing their friends seemed like the last thing she wanted to do. Nik's eyes would make her feel guilty, as they always did, and Rood would ask her why she hadn't rescued Sed while she was in the palace.

She thought then of the woman in red robes, her voice dripping in sarcasm as she promised to do her part and 'take care' of the prince. Aladdi shuddered to think what that might mean and pulled her pillows tighter over her eyes, as though she could smother the images of Jas's lifeless form, his face bloodless, the sultan without his smile, the whole country going to war. 

Aladdi slipped into sleep the world fading to black just as the footsteps of noblewomen and their companions shuffled past her doorway, from the ballroom to their own bedchambers.


	20. Chapter 20

Aladdi had not slept through the night since before she could remember, but her body finally gave in that night. Aladdi did not wake once that night, though she tossed and turned and her dreams were tinged with fear and indecision. She saw the door in her mind open on its own, saw spilling through it the faces of friends left behind in other places, friends in danger in this one, her parents and the faces of the men who had killed them. Unable to shake these memories in her sleep, Aladdi finally awoke far into the next afternoon, tears dried on her face and pillows still piled over her head.

Katin was in the room, straightening Aladdi's covers over her and keeping up her constant chatter. "I'm afraid I should not have let you go to the feast last night, my lady. You are clearly still not well, but there is another ball in a few hours and everybody is sure to appear."

Aladdi didn't hold back a groan as she tossed away the pillows, reaching to the bedside table for her veil before she realized that she was already wearing it. She remembered the prince's fingers tangled in her hair as he had untied it, then she closed her eyes and tried to forget. 

Katin smiled sweetly at her, handing her a goblet of chilled water and a robe. "Come, we must get you ready."

Aladdi groaned again, and Katin laughed outright as she gulped down the water and set the goblet down. "What am I wearing tonight?"

Katin pulled from the wardrobe a set of robes of shimmering silk, the color changing from grey to purple to pink as she lifted the sleeve. The colors were so mysterious, always changing, and Aladdi reached out to touch them, then shook her head. She went to the wardrobe herself, and pulled at a simple gown of honey-colored fabric. It only took a moment to find the slippers that matched it, and she handed both to Katin.

The servant girl was in raptures as soon as Aladdi put on the frock. It seemed made for her, fitting perfectly and making her eyes seem even brighter than usual. Aladdi tied the gold beaded veil over her nose and mouth, and as soon as Katin left she checked to be sure the plans were still where she had put them. Not trusting Katin or another maid to clean the chambers, however, Aladdi flattened the papers and slid them behind one of the tapestries on the stone wall. Then, glancing nervously back at the hiding place, she followed Katin out into the palace. 

Katin led them through unfamiliar halls to a new room, something of which the palace seemed to have no end. There were no tables filled with food- it seemed the rest of the nobles had just come from a meal which Aladdi must have slept through. Instead, people lined the walls, while the center was wide open for dancing, the floor polished and reflecting the candles and torches which lit the room up to the ceiling. There, light from dozens of flames flickered and made the smoke gathered there glow gold. 

Aladdi gazed about the room at the food and the decorations, trying to avoid Jas, but her eyes seemed to meet his immediately and unwillingly. He smiled at her and walked over, holding out a hand. "You look lovely, my lady," he said in a soft voice.

Not yours, not a lady, Aladdi thought, not sure why the thought was so absurdly sad. 

"Would you honor me with a dance?" Jas continued. Not knowing what else to do, she nodded assent, and he led her by the hand into the middle of the floor.

As if on cue, the rest of the guests paired off, lesser noblemen leading women who were all shooting Aladdi nastier looks than ever before. 

Aladdi avoided their eyes, choosing instead those of her dance partner, which were sparkling. She and the prince didn't say a word to each other, but danced one song after another, the couples around them rearranging themselves as Aladdi tried to memorize the flecks of gold in Jas's eyes.

After Aladdi lost count of how many times the musicians had changed tunes, she noticed men crowding around the sultan. They were advisors and fathers from nearly every country, and all seemed cross, talking at the sultan in polite whispers and making small gestures toward Aladdi. She bit her lip, and at the next opportunity she loosened her fingers from the prince's. "I am tired, Your Highness," she said in a quiet voice, looking at the ground. "Would you excuse me?"

Jas was all kindness, walking her to the wall and offering to find a maid to help her, but soon as she could she had him back on the dance floor with some princess from a small country to the south. The men around the sultan began to look somewhat appeased. 

Meanwhile, Aladdi looked away from the prince, letting her eyes wander to a gaggle of lesser noblewomen, gathered around one man. They were all fluttering their eyelashes, beaming at him and gasping as he told a story in animated tones. From his garb one could see he was one of the king's guard, and his posture indicated a certain level of importance, at least to himself. Aladdi also recognized his face, from her days on the streets. He was the head of the guard, and he was boasting how firmly he carried out the wishes of the throne. Aladdi smirked to herself, taking steps closer to the crowd.

"No street urchin can slip through the justice in my city, y'see," she heard the man say, hands on his hips. "Just the other day, before all you ladies came to the palace, we jailed a little rat who stole from one of our respected merchants. Mangoes are one of the most important wares in our marketplace, y'see."

Aladdi frowned, leaning closer to hear the guard's every word.

"He'll get no mercy from me, y'see. Y'see, all you have to do is go one at a time, give 'em examples like this one, until our humble townspeople live in peace, free from the rabble who rob them of their well-earned food. His execution's set for three days' time, and then we go on to the other criminals that roam our streets."


	21. Chapter 21

Aladdi froze, trembling all over. She wanted to dart across the ballroom, take that man's throat in her hands and make him feel the pain that was not letting her breathe.

But first she caught a glimpse of the prince's face, looking up at her and giving her a smile but no, that couldn't be right, because her best friend was dozens of marble floors under his feet, unaware of the horrible things that had just been said.

So instead Aladdi burst out into the hallway, sinking to the floor with her back against the wall. Tremors racked her small frame until she was gasping for breath, knees pulled up to her chest. She tried not to imagine Sed’s wild grin, tried to stop crying, but every tear that she had not shed for him, and for herself, came now. 

She didn’t think that she must go back in to the feast, that her eyes would be red and puffy. All she could think was three days' time, and all she could see was her friends’ faces as she imagined they were right now, Rood’s quiet with fury as he tried to find a way to see the younger boy, and Nik not ashamed of the tears that would be slipping down his cheeks. And both of them wondering why their strongest, their leader, why Aladdi wasn’t there to say goodbye.

Aladdi choked on silent sobs, so focused on not making a noise that she didn’t notice the footfalls leading up to where she hid, or the fine gold embroidered shoes not an arm’s length away. A shadow fell across Aladdi’s face, and she finally looked up in horror. She could hardly see the expression on the prince’s kind face framed against the bright yellow light from the ballroom. His smile was only cheerful for another moment, before he noticed the tears on her cheeks, and his face changed. "My lady? Are you well?"

Aladdi scrambled to her feet, giving the prince a clumsy curtsey while she gulped down a sob. “You will excuse me, Your Majesty,” she said, and broke into a run as soon as she followed the corridor around a corner.

The tears refused to stop pouring, and Aladdi ran, half blind, through one hallway after another into a part of the palace where she had not yet been. But the only thing she noticed was that she was running farther away from the ballroom, and finally she burst through a pair of ornate doors onto a balcony.

Despite all the frantic thoughts racing through her mind, she gasped at the view. From here, she could see the entire marketplace, the many levels of clay houses and the sands beyond were pink and orange and soft dark brown in the setting sun. It was a lovely sight, and Aladdi stood breathless, looking out at her city.

“How does it look from the inside?” asked a voice behind her, and Aladdi tried not to spin and stare as the prince stepped out onto the balcony with her. He wore a proud smile, and the familiarity of his words made her afraid, though in her distress she wasn’t sure why.

She thought to hide behind polite and proper words, but the vagueness of the buildings spread before her, the enormity of the palace, prompted a question. She whirled to face him, her back against the railing. “So this is what you see, Your Majesty?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“When you look out on all your land, do you see it like this? The buildings, the gates, the sands in the distance?”

The prince frowned, looking out. “What more is there to see?”

She looked at him now, studying his eyes. “Do you see your subjects? The people who fill the houses and the marketplace, the mothers and sons and friends?”

The prince was flustered by her words, and cleared his throat nervously. “The throne humbly deals with any appealing citizens--”

“You cannot see a single citizen even from this balcony! How can you care for your people from a throne? I--” she cut herself off, tamed her shrill voice and started again in the words of an observer. “I should imagine from your streets, from their own homes, your subjects have another perspective, one you have not seen.”

Prince Jas nodded, following her gaze out into those streets, frowning. “What do you imagine they see when they look to the palace? Do they see the sultan, or the officials working every waking hour to keep their kingdom from war?”

“In between the balls and banquets, you mean,” Aladdi snapped.

The prince beside her looked genuinely hurt. He took a deep breath and turned to face her, leaning on the railing, on his face an expression she couldn’t read. “What is this, Aleria? What is troubling you?”

Aladdi shook her head, as if to shake her tears away. “You have no idea how small their lives are, how big and shut up this palace seems. Do you know how much they must depend on this building and those inside it to be the absolute of all right, how hopeful they are that you are doing the best you possibly can?”

Jas took a step toward her, his face frustrated. “But what is this about?”

The tears were flowing freely again, but Aladdi looked him in the eyes. “There is a boy in your dungeons as we speak, who is to die in three days’ time for stealing a mango from a street vendor.”

Jas frowned. “Surely I would have heard about this.”

Aladdi just shook her head. “You did not. I need to believe that you did not, because I believe you are a good man, and so I need to think you never heard about this boy’s little brother who was trampled by a merchant’s cart last year. Or about his best friend’s sister, who has been selling herself since she was-”

Jas held up his hand. It was less an order than a plea, his eyes begging her not to continue. 

Aladdi took a deep breath. “I cannot explain how I know your city, but I can no longer pretend I do not. If you have ever trusted me, believe that I know this boy does not deserve to die in three days. No matter why I came to this palace. I will forsake all my reasons to ask you to save him.”

Jas just looked at her for a moment, his puzzled eyes searching hers. She held her breath, and a few more tears slipped from her eyes, rolling down her face onto her veil. 

Jas took a deep breath and nodded. "Of course. Of course, I will look into this, and be sure to find a punishment that fits his crime."

Aladdi let out the breath and clasped his hand gratefully, curtseying low, where she remained, wobbling with her head bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty. You cannot begin to imagine what you have done for me."

Jas tugged on her hand, lifting her to her feet. He held her hand another moment, looking firmly into her eyes. "I shall not ask. I shall wonder, but I shall not ask you why you need this from me."

Aladdi just looked at him, nodding again. "Thank you, Your Highness."


	22. Chapter 22

Aladdi's heart felt lighter, of course, knowing that she had not condemned Sed to death, but for some reason she did not feel the relief she had expected to feel. The knowledge of the threat on the prince's life settled around her head like a black cloud of candle smoke, making everything seem hazy and unreal.

Aladdi danced with a few lesser noblemen and even drank a glass of wine, not realizing for a while that she was trying to indulge in the luxuries that she would soon go without. As soon as Sed was released, she would have no reason to stay in the palace, and she would take the plans and finally go back to her old life.

She didn't think about that just yet, just fingered the fine cloth of her frock, listened to the beautiful music, and inhaled the fragrance of the candles and the hundreds of drying flowers.

She didn't look at the prince.

Aladdi left the ball with all the other ladies, taking part for once in the polite chitchat and tipsy giggling. Splitting off from the group to go to her chambers, Aladdi's false smile melted from her face. Numbly she changed out of her fancy dress, put all her own belongings, along with a few of the most expensive pieces of jewelry and her veil, in a bag which she stowed under the bed. Finally, she climbed into the tall bed, relishing the feeling of her warm stone floor against her toes, her back against the mattress, the pillows on her face, then let herself slip into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

As soon as her eyes opened, Aladdi leapt out of the bed, reaching to retrieve her bag. She put on the simplest tunic and pants that she could find, tied her hair back, and stopped to take a last, hungry look at the grandeur around her. Taking a deep breath, she was walking over to the tapestry on the wall to remove the war plans when Katin burst into the room.

Aladdi froze, dropping the bag on the floor. She stretched her arms over her head, letting her eyelids droop as though she were still half asleep. Meanwhile, Katin stared at her, and Aladdi wondered why. She realized, too late now, that she was not wearing her veil. 

Katin smiled at her. "You're very pretty, my lady," was all she said, then she began to bustle about the room, picking out a sage green dress and slippers. "The prince has requested the presence of all the noblewomen in the entrance hall. If you ask me, my lady, he is going to announce who he has chosen for his bride!"

The girl put Aladdi's veil back on and fussed with her hair for a while, taking it down and threading it with gold ribbons. Finally, Aladdi slapped her hands away playfully and the two of them made their way, Katin practically skipping along compared to Aladdi's reluctant shuffling. They reached the huge entrance hall and stood at the outer edge of a ring of ladies.

Some of the other noblewomen had obviously had the same thought Katin had, and had put extra effort into their clothing. The prince, contrastingly, was wearing a simple beige tunic and pants. His advisors behind him were fidgeting uncomfortably, but his father was beaming even wider than usual.

Eventually, everybody had arrived, and the prince motioned for silence. The chatter ceased immediately, leaving only the sound of the servants' fans along the edges of the room.

"Welcome, ladies, friends, and respected guests," Jas began. "Today I ask you to take part with me in something very close to my heart, and possibly the most important thing I will ever do in my lifetime."

Behind her, Katin grabbed Aladdi's hand and squeezed her fingers. A second later, the servant girl realized her place and started to pull away, but Aladdi only held on tighter. Her heart was beating fast, and suddenly she wasn't sure what she wanted the prince to say next.

"I was recently reminded-" Jas caught her eye and smiled "-of the vast country outside these palace walls. We often forget that there are cities, homes, and people who all depend on my father and me to lead the country in the right direction."

Aladdi frowned. This didn't sound like a proposal.

"And so," Jas continued with a secret smile on his face, "I am proud to announce that today, my father and I will be touring my own city, getting to know its people and problems, addressing the needs of any I may come across. I have had the kitchens keep back a portion from our meals, and had blankets and clothing taken from the palace's empty rooms."

Servants came streaming into the entrance hall, leading carts of blankets and food toward the huge doors. Meanwhile Jas continued, "I would be honored by your company, and invite you all to share with me in this happy day of service and community, which I hope to repeat as often as I can when I am sultan."

Muttering spread among the ladies in the hall. The nobles were so occupied by the news that hardly anybody but Aladdi noticed the nervous glance Jas gave his father, or the reassuring nod he received. Aladdi smiled.

Katin dropped her hand, and Aladdi turned to the girl, alarmed. But the servant girl was grinning, tears dripping down her cheeks as she looked up at the prince. Aladdi squeezed her arm, then turned back to the center of the room as the talking quieted.

The prince spoke again. "Any of my guests who do not wish to come with me may return to their chambers and have their servants pack their things to return to their own land. When I return this evening, we will have a feast and a proper sendoff."

The voices rumbled even more indignantly, and every shocked eye was on the prince as he made his way through the crowd, took one of the carts from a servant in his own hands, and pushed it out into the sun without a single look back.


	23. Chapter 23

Aladdi didn't hesitate to follow Jas, taking a cart herself and walking out of the palace. Out in the courtyard, she stopped beside the prince and risked a proud smile. Jas smiled back, and together they watched the nobles.

After a few hurried conversations with their advisors, some of the younger princesses eagerly took carts, sometimes working together to push a heavy one, and came out to join Aladdi and Jas. Aladdi smiled, surprised at the number of guests who volunteered to help, even if it was only to avoid being sent back to their country and denied the chance to be queen. 

A few of the older women in the entrance hall turned up their noses, but most of the noblewomen eventually came out into the courtyard. Aladdi frowned for a moment, noticing that Jara was not among the volunteers, but also not one of the women who remained inside. But that thought was soon forgotten as a few servants took the remaining carts, and Jas led the procession through the streets.

At first, nobody came to meet them. Jas frowned, his confidence flagging, but Aladdi knew where all the people would be. Discreetly, she touched his elbow, directing him through the winding alleys toward the marketplace. Slowly, the streets began to fill, the noise of the city amplified as they drew close.

The finer vendors recognized the prince and bowed as he passed by. To his credit, Jas ignored them and approached the shoppers, introducing himself to grandmothers and little boys alike. Most of the citizens were shocked, and at first shyly denied any need. After a few reassuring smiles, mothers would melt and point out their children's bare feet, or admit that they were having trouble buying enough flour. Prince Jas would direct them to a cart where they could choose what they wanted, or even hand over gold from his own purse to provide for the cost of larger items.

One woman told the prince that a guard had taken away her goat when she had refused to pay extra taxes.

Jas frowned. "One of my men did this?"

She nodded hesitantly. 

Jas nodded slowly. "How much did you pay for your goat? I can give you twice that much, and a new goat. Would that do?"

She walked away dazed, pockets heavy with coins, and Aladdi couldn't help herself from laughing. 

"What?" Jas asked.

"I don't think that woman ever saw that much gold in her entire life," Aladdi said, and Jas smiled to himself.

Gradually, the princesses spread out through the smaller streets off the marketplace. A few glowered at the people, snatched their skirts away from the children and spoke in indignant whispers. Aladdi and several other girls, however, followed the prince's example and went out on their own, talking to girls their own age or letting little families crowd around their carts.

Aladdi kept a careful eye on the prince, and as soon as he was out of sight she handed her cart off to one of the princesses and slipped away.

It wasn't far to Rood's small house. Aladdi peeked into the doorway, hoping to find Rood's mother, Resa, so she could tell her to go to market. Instead, she found Rood himself, crouched with Nik and tracing lines in the dirt floor.

As soon as they heard Aladdi's footsteps, the boys brushed the marks away and stood sheepishly. Then they saw it was her, and both boys froze.

"Laddi!" Nik cried, and ran into her arms. Not caring about her dress, Aladdi embraced the younger boy, burying her face in his shaggy hair and trying not to cry.

Nik pulled away, and Aladdi made sure to put her collapsing face back together before she looked up at Rood.

"Nice dress," he said gruffly, and returned her hug reluctantly and briefly. Pushing her away to arm's length, he gave her a hard look. "You've seen Sed?"

"Katin said he was sentenced to death," Nik spoke up before Aladdi could talk.

Aladdi nodded.

"What are we going to do? You said you were going to do something!" Nik interrupted again. 

Aladdi put a hand on his arm, grinning. "I did. He'll get some time in the stocks or a few lashings, nothing he can't handle. He'll be fine," she assured, locking eyes with both boys, "I promise."

Nik hugged her again. "I thought maybe you couldn't do it," he admitted.

"Hey," Aladdi told him, pretending to be offended. "I told you me and the prince were great friends, didn't I?"

Rood frowned at her over Nik's head. "Did you do the job?"

Aladdi hesitated. "Nearly," she lied. "I need to go back and get something done, but then I can come home."

Rood didn't stop frowning, but he nodded. "Have you told Sed?"

Aladdi blinked. She wasn't sure if Sed knew about his former sentence, but she had forgotten to tell him he'd been saved from that fate. She shook her head.

Rood nodded. "You should tell him when you get back. We've been planning to break him out since Nik heard from Katin- I'm sure he's been doing the same, and he'll do something stupid soon if he doesn't hear from you."

Aladdi nodded, chastised, and looked back toward the marketplace. "I need to go back, okay?"

The boys both smiled at her, and she slipped out the door and back into the marketplace.

Jas, Aladdi, and the nobles spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the city, providing the items they could and paying for those they could not. Aladdi interfered before anybody tried to scam the prince, telling him the real prices for things like cattle, a fence, or a straw mat.

Eventually the carts grew empty, even the most adventurous noblewomen grew impatient and tired, and Jas agreed to go back to the palace. There, as he had promised, there was an enormous feast ready. Aladdi was placed on the prince's left side, and around the table everybody told stories about the events of the day, whether in complaint or excitement. Looking around at these people around her, the flush in their cheeks from spending the day doing things for others, Aladdi reconsidered, amused, many things that she had always thought to be true.

In a lull in the conversation, Prince Jas raised a toast to the people of his city, and the volunteers who had shared the day with him. He also thanked those leaving for their company, and then, before he drank, turned to Aladdi. "And thank you," he said quietly, "for showing me how badly I needed to do this."

"No, thank you, Your Majesty-" Aladdi protested.

He shook his head. "You have already thanked me, and quite unnecessarily."

"Not for Sed- not for the boy in the dungeons. Thank you for this afternoon, for caring for your people." Aladdi took a deep breath, and told one of the only truths she had ever spoken to the man beside her. "I think you will be the greatest sultan this country could ask for."

The prince smiled at her, and at just that moment, Jara caught her eye and raised her goblet slowly toward Aladdi. The younger girl held her breath, dreading what silent toast of her own the assassin could be making. To be safe, she switched her own goblet with the prince's when he wasn't looking.


	24. Chapter 24

The sultan stood. "A toast!"

Everybody in the hall rose, holding their goblets up toward the sultan. Aladdi picked up the one intended for the prince and watched Jas lift her own. Jas beamed at her, and she gave him a hesitant smile before turning toward the sultan.

The little man was grinning ear to ear. "Today my son did something I am ashamed never to have thought to do. In a way, however, I am happy that he was the one to begin this wonderful tradition. Jasper, today you have proven to me not only that you have grown to become a leader worthy of my legacy, but that you have also grown to become a better man than I."

Jas's cheeks were red, but he smiled at his father and nodded.

"To my son, the next sultan of Akraba!"

"To the next sultan of Akraba," echoed the rest of the company, and Aladdi heard the clatter of goblets against each other. She tapped the prince's goblet to those her neighbors held out to her, and raised it to take a small sip. The wine tasted normal, but still she smiled as she watched the prince take a long drink she knew was safe.

As soon as another toast began, the smile slowly faded from Aladdi's face. Every minute she spent in the palace was another chance of being discovered. She thought of the bag she had stashed in the corridor before she had left with the prince to tour the city, and wondered how she would slip out without anybody noticing. She tried not to think how this may be the last time Jas would smile at her.

It occurred to her then: Sed. She had never told him that he had been saved from his fate, and if he did not know soon, he might try to escape and sabotage his own release. Aladdi raised the prince's goblet with everybody else to a toast she had not heard, and then excused herself to her neighbors and slipped out into the corridor.

She was hurrying down the hall when she felt her feet drag and stopped, alarmed. Her breath was just a little labored, and she thought of the sips she had taken from the prince's drink.

She cursed herself for the foolish assumption that Jara would not dare to attack the prince in such an obvious manner. Her thoughts flashed dizzy through her mind as she tried to sort out how much poison she could have consumed in the little she had drunk. Turning away from the stairs to the dungeons, Aladdi walked instead down the corridor she knew led to a balcony, hoping to recover in fresh air. 

Stepping out onto the balcony, she noticed footsteps behind her for the first time. She smoothed her own expression before she turned around, and was surprised to see the prince, silhouetted by the light through the doorway.

"My lady Aleria? Are you well?"

Aladdi's thoughts were blurred, but she managed a pleasant smile. "Quite well, thank you."

Her knees were going to buckle any minute now. Bracing herself against the balcony railing, she found herself wondering if he would catch her when they did.

Meanwhile, the prince took a few steps toward her, a strangely pained expression in his eyes. He fidgeted, putting his hands behind his back. He opened his mouth and closed it.

She frowned at him.

Finally, Jas let out a breath. “I beg you, tell me if I must leave you and send me away at once.”

“Why?”

“Because I am a presumptuous man, Aleria! And if you do not I will finally choose to believe things that I cannot prove.” Jas took a deep breath and tried to tame his features into formality, straightening and looking about. “Because we should not be out here alone.”

“Why?” She sounded like one of the sultan’s insufferable birds, and she pressed her fingers to her forehead, sorting out her thoughts. “Surely it is not improper for you to be outdoors.”

“Not improper yet, at any rate.”

Her heart was beating fast. “What is your meaning?”

The prince finally looked into her eyes, letting his shoulders sag with some strange exhaustion. “My meaning is that I have grown tired of trying to fight this. I know that you have misgivings about what happened the other night, but I am worn down from avoiding you, from trying to ignore this. This, the feeling that you more right than anything I could find inside that ballroom. My meaning is that I am tired of waiting and holding back, and now I am weak. So weak, and if you do not make me leave you now I think I am going to kiss you again.”

Aladdi took a step back, wobbling. Her vision was blurring. "You must not."

Jas lifted his hands toward hers, but she took another step away. "Then I must ask you why," he pleaded. "Why are you here if you would avoid me? Why do you walk about this place as though any shadow would swallow you?" He looked hurt now. "Why will you not trust me?"

She cursed his timing in her mind and continued to back away, stumbling, tears stinging at every step as though he were holding a hook through her heart. Perhaps he was. "Your Highness, I must not answer these questions. I must ask you to allow me to return to my chambers, and to my country. I ask you to find a princess to dance with you, to make you happy, to be your wife, who will be honest with you. And I must ask that it be another than me."

An anguished look passed over the prince's face and he hesitated, then spun on his heel and walked on long strides back into the ballroom. 

Aladdi stifled a sob, and waited until the prince was back inside the feast with his guests to follow. She made her slow and laborious way inside, sitting shakily in a chair on the wall, keeping a careful eye on Jas, who was having a subdued conversation with his father. The sultan looked up directly at her, and gave her a sad smile. Aladdi's cheeks burned. 

She was so engrossed in watching the prince that she hardly noticed Jara walk up. Aladdi started, and could hardly focus on the woman's face looking down on her. 

Annoyance leaked through Jara's condescending smile. "Had a little to much to drink, have we?"

Aladdi just closed her eyes against the waves in her vision. Jara clicked her tongue, leaning down to place an ice-cold hand on Aladdi's forehead. "You had better lie down, Lady Shadow Walker," the woman taunted.

Aladdi struggled to stand, but Jara put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, not to worry. I shall take care of the prince from here," Aladdi heard her say, and then she was gone. A moment later, Aladdi caught her in the corner of her eye. She was on Jas's arm, and they were walking out into the night.


	25. Chapter 25

Aladdi crept after Jara and the prince, staying just far enough behind them and keeping her footfalls light. Something in the assassin's hand flashed in the moonlight, and Aladdi's heart began to beat faster and louder. She took deep breaths and laid a hand over her heart for fear that Jara would hear it in the silent night.

Far ahead of them, Aladdi saw guards posted throughout the gardens, but they did not wear the prince's arms. Aladdi's breath caught in her throat, and she walked faster.

She saw Jara draw near to the prince, and she couldn't wait. Her voice squeaked in her throat. "Jas!"

Jara spun angrily, and the prince looked up at her, confusion mingling with hurt on his face. It rent her heart, but she could hardly stand, crumpling to sit on the roots of a tree.

"Get away from him," she pleaded, her head spinning.

Jara's face was strangely calm, and Aladdi watched, stunned, as she took a few sheets of paper from her own sleeve. "My lady Aleria," she said in a honey-sweet voice, "you do not look well. But now that you are here, you can return these yourself."

Aladdi stared at the plans in her hands, hardly comprehending.

Jara raised an eyebrow. "Or, shall I?" She turned to the prince, handing him the papers. "I caught her stuffing these under her mattress in her chambers. I suppose even a common thief can pass for a princess in these times of war."

The prince was rifling through the papers, and looked up at Aladdi, horrified.

Aladdi's mind moved slowly, but she began to understand Jara's calm, why she wasn't in the garden to kill the prince. Aladdi winced at the pain in her head and looked at Jas, who was staring at her like she was a stranger.

Jara was still talking. "I am no fool, Your Highness. Of course, my father and my family will be alarmed by these war plans, and of course this little spy shall be executed," she said with confidence, crossing her arms and nodding at Aladdi.

The prince was silent, looking hard at Aladdi.

Jara sniffed. "If you will not punish her, I shall." She regarded Aladdi, pathetic, sitting in the dirt in her stolen gown and veil, with a look of real disgust. "Guard, arrest the imposter," she ordered the soldier standing nearby, and she took Jas's arm, leading him away as Jara's guard pulled her roughly off the ground.

Aladdi fought to keep her eyes open. She only registered a few details as she slipped in and out of consciousness- the cold metal of the guard's armor against her cheek as he dragged her toward the palace, the light and warmth of the feast sliding past her in a single doorway, stairs, and at one point, Sed's eyes, strangely serious, staring at her as he was led past her, on his way out of the dungeon.


	26. Chapter 26

Aladdi awoke groggily to the feel of damp straw against her face. She blinked, and heard gruff tones coming through the walls on either side of her. Aladdi's eyes roamed over her unfamiliar surroundings, and settled on the figure standing on the other side of the bars. It was Jas, or, more accurately, Jas's back. He was facing away from her, shifting his feet.

Aladdi sat up straight. Her head was pounding and she touched her face, frowning not to feel her veil there. She looked a wreck, and self-consciously she ran a hand over her hair and plucked straw from her dress. She looked at the ground, but spoke up boldly. "What did she tell you?"

Jas started, and turned around to look down at her. Aladdi stole a careful glance at his eyes. He looked tired.

"You are the girl from the rooftops." It was a question, but he said it like an accusation.

Aladdi looked back at the ground. "Yes."

"You are a famous thief who has ravaged all the surrounding countries. You disguise yourself as a man called the Shadow Walker. You infiltrated the palace to steal the war plans from my father in order to help Fariz slaughter my soldiers."

Aladdi winced. "Yes."

"And I saved your life," the prince muttered to himself, and Aladdi nodded. It seemed so long ago that he had smiled at her in her little hovel, looking out over the city. When she had first held out her hand and asked him if he trusted her to jump from her window. No, to step onto the magic carpet-

Aladdi's head jerked up. "You knew."

Jas met her eyes. "I suspected. You are not an easy girl to forget." There was regret on his voice.

Aladdi bit her lip, and spoke up again. "She's not who she says she is."

Jas raised an eyebrow.

"Jara. She's not a princess. She brought me messages from our boss, told me she was an assassin who came here to kill you, to weaken your country."

Jas sighed, turning away from her and running a hand over his eyes. "Really, Aleria--"

"My name is Aladdi."

His eyes jerked up to hers, and Aladdi couldn't help a small smile. All circumstances aside, it felt good to tell him her real name. "A day ago, you trusted me," she pleaded.

Jas's eyes tugged at hers now, searching them as if he was looking for something that he didn't want to find. "And how can you expect me to trust you now?"

Jas turned to go, and Aladdi sprang to her feet, then wobbled with the effort, leaning against the wall. "I must ask you a favor," she called after him.

The prince's tone was almost cruel. "Lady Jara's guards arrested you. Even if I wished it, I may not release you."

Aladdi blinked. "That is not what I would ask."

He crossed his arms. "What, then?"

"My friends."

Jas almost looked relieved, and he leaned toward her. "Are they the ones who have led you into this life, this crime?"

Aladdi frowned at him, then shook her head wearily. "Your Highness, I must stop you now. You must release any false impressions of my innocence. Jara is lying to you, but not about what I do, and not about why I was in the palace. I haven't been corrupted, and definitely not by my friends. Nik, Rood, Sed- they'd all be innocent if I weren't in their lives."

The prince tilted his head. "Sed?"

"My friend, the one you released." With difficulty, Aladdi dragged herself away from the wall and took a step toward the bars. "He saw me being taken here."

The prince's eyes went wide and blank. "I released- I released a criminal for you."

"Your Highness," Aladdi pleaded.

He didn't seen to notice. He looked like he had been struck in the face. "I changed his sentence for you, I-"

"Jas," she interrupted him, and he looked at her, surprised. She looked back at the ground rather than see the expression of hurt on his face. "My friends," she continued, "three of them. They'll try to help me escape. It'll be tomorrow night. They know the guards' rotation."

At this Jas raised his eyebrows, and Aladdi just shrugged. "It's your choice now. You could turn a blind eye, and I'll leave the palace, leave Akraba, and never see your country again."

Now it was he who would not meet her eyes. She went on. "But if you choose to keep me here, I need to beg you, be merciful with them. Bring them here to talk to me, or send them away, just don't arrest them. Jas, please, they have families."

"You would have me pardon another crime. For you?" His voice rose, and he kept pacing until Aladdi felt dizzy. 

"It's all for me," she said, quietly. He slowed to a stop in front of the bars, and looked at her. Aladdi trained her eyes on the ground again so that she wouldn't see the disgust on his face. She spoke up. "The blame is all mine. They do this for me. Sed was caught for me, Nik and Rood would risk their lives for me. Have- they have." Her head jerked up, and she felt her voice turn desperate. "I'll take the blame. Add their crimes to mine, all of them. Just send them away."

Jas said nothing. He stopped pacing, and clasped his hands behind his back. Aladdi couldn't meet his cold gaze. She felt it on the top of her head as she stared at the stone floor, watched one tear, then another, splatter onto the straw.

"I will need to speak with my officials, and with my father. If they harm any of my property or my men-"

"They won't," Aladdi interrupted. "They- we are thieves, not assassins." She let her eyes meet his for a moment, and he closed his against her gaze, and against her implication.

"There will be food in the next hour," he said, and turned to leave. As soon as he was out of her sight, Aladdi sank again to the floor. She rested her head on the bars, and wished that her thoughts would slow down and let her head catch up.


	27. Chapter 27

Aladdi was sitting in the corner of her cell when she heard a sound from the staircase. For one heart-stopping second, she thought that Jas had let Nik and Rood through, that he would arrest them, or that he would let them take her away. She did not know which she was more afraid of.

Then the steps came to the door of her cell, and she looked up in surprise. It was the sultan, dressed in simple robes, his white eyebrows furrowed and his eyes twinkling. He was several heads shorter than her when she stood up, a hand on the bars to steady herself. He stood there a moment, studying her surroundings. "You should eat."

Aladdi followed his eyes to the piece of bread sitting on the floor. She hadn't touched it. She couldn't think about food. She looked up at the little man, finding it easier to meet his eyes than his son's. "Why are you here?"

He was about to speak when a guard carried in a small wooden stool. The guard glowered at Aladdi before he left the two of them alone, even closing the door that led to the stairs. "If you would humor a little old man," the sultan said as he sat down, "I have always had a private little love of stories. I'd like to hear yours."

Aladdi closed her eyes. Her head was throbbing, and her knees shook. 

"Please sit," she heard the sultan say, and she realized that she had nothing to lose for such impropriety besides his good will, which her betrayal had already stolen from her. She crumpled onto the damp straw, and laid her head against the wall. She kept her eyes closed, and sighed. "I cannot tell it. I hardly remember any of it."

She opened her eyes to see the sultan raise an eyebrow. 

"There is- there is a door," she tried to explain, "between me and the things that have happened."

The little man nodded, looking thoughtful. "Sometimes a door which has been kept shut for too long does not come loose without a little trouble," he mused.

A pause, and then he continued. "You have seen more than a little trouble, my girl."

Aladdi looked at him then, and there was pity in his face. Behind the curiosity, and the suspicion, yes, there was pity there. For once, Aladdi found that she did not resent it.

So she tried. Aladdi closed her eyes again, and tried to do the one thing that frightened her the most. To draw forward the memories which she had long shut away in her mind.

"It was not always like this," she began, slowly. She saw dim images of the times when she was somewhere else, belonged to someone, loved by someone. "My parents lived in a village in- in Fariz, I believe we lived there."

"Your parents?" 

"I had them. I remember very little of them," Aladdi admitted. "Their faces, their voices, not much more. My mother was always singing. Sad songs," she remembered, knowing that tears had run down the woman's cheeks, knowing that Aladdi's own chubby fingers had wiped them away. "My father was always quiet," Aladdi said. "And everything was dangerous. The village was small, and my friends smiled and played, but my father said that danger was everywhere." 

She hadn't thought about this in a long time. There had been danger in every stranger to pass through the village, danger in the water she drank and the air she breathed. Dread in her father's eyes and eyebrows which always frowned in the middle, and fear in her mother's hands when they held hers.

Aladdi shook the memories out of her throat before they choked her. "One day, men came. They tried to take my father away, but he shouted and tried to stay. Then- I don't remember him anymore. Him or her."

"What age were you, in Fariz?" He seemed genuinely interested, like her story even mattered, like knowing the past could change the present.

Aladdi frowned. "Seven years, perhaps."

"Where did you go?"

She shrugged. "Somewhere else. Another city. I found people who gave me food, taught me how to steal. Then one day, I don't remember them anymore, and I went to another city."

"In Fariz?"

Aladdi shook her head, frowning deeper, chasing her memory further than she ever had. "No. I went far away- I saw a map and I went east, until I heard a name I had seen on the other side of the border."

"What city was that?"

"Sabal."

The sultan's bushy white eyebrows shot up. "You travelled to Sabal at seven years?"

"Ten, I think, by then. I spent some time stealing for other people." Aladdi remembered other faces, faded by time, a girl with sunken cheeks and bright eyes and straight hair whose fingers had been thinner and lighter than hers, an old man who gave her fruit and asked for shoes. Others, men with stink on their breath and stone in their faces and hardness in their hands, more than she could count. Or wanted to. She closed her eyes to that- she wouldn't tell the sultan about that- and waited for another question. 

"What age are you now?"

"Seventeen years, maybe. I can't be sure."

"Seventeen years," the old man repeated. He whistled through wrinkled lips. "You have gone farther, known more of the world in seventeen years than my own son."

"My travels have not been for my education or excitement," Aladdi snapped, bothered by something in his tone.

"Of course," the sultan allowed. "Did you ever return to Fariz?"

Aladdi started to shake her head, but the door opened a little further, and instead she nodded, slowly. "I'd forgotten."

"Oh?"

"Once. Another price was on my head and I fled to Fariz. I only stayed a few days, but I found my village. I asked, but there was no memory in the people there of my parents. I may have found their graves. Two blank stones, no names to make me sure."

"What were their names?" He leaned forward.

Aladdi bit her lip, and a tear slipped off her cheek onto the floor as she wondered how she could forget this. Then, a memory, a smile and a name called across the little house, and- "Riya. Riya was my mother."

"And your father?" There was a tightness in his voice.

"Kanan," she said, suddenly certain.

The sultan stood then, startling her to her feet. She teetered, and searched his face, not sure what she hoped to find there, but knowing it was there to be found. "Rest, my girl," he said, and opened his mouth to say more, but apparently thought better of it, for he shook his head and walked out of the dungeon.

Aladdi sat down on the floor, staring at the wooden stool the sultan had left, and going over in her mind everything that had been said, and what it could possibly mean.


	28. Chapter 28

Aladdi slipped in and out of time, her bones aching from the cold and the hard stone floor. She shivered, and dreamed, and knew not when she woke, but she opened her eyes to Jara standing on the other side of the bars. She stood up shakily. "I don't suppose you've come to offer to change places?"

Jara just smiled at her, and Aladdi sighed. "Aren't you finished? You have proof of my crimes. I have none of yours. You win." 

Jara was holding herself like a princess still, and in a moment Aladdi noticed the prince standing behind her, and knew why.

Aladdi looked Jas hard in the eyes, determined to hold his gaze. "You couldn't leave me alone and let me hear my sentence from a guard like all the other people in this place?"

"Do not fret, my dear," said the voice of the sultan as he stepped into view. "I have asked them to come here with me."

Aladdi gave the sultan another worried look, and he gave her an oddly comforting smile. "Sit."

Aladdi lowered herself weakly back to the floor and waited, studying the faces of the three people on the other side of the bars. Jara looked down at Aladdi smugly, like she was getting exactly what she wanted. Jas would not meet her eyes, but he wasn't looking at Jara either. His eyes were trained on the floor, and he gave his father the occasional curious glance.

The sultan was the most perplexing. His face was smooth and kind, and he gave her a small, conspiratorial smile before he turned to Jara. "You say that this thief has been working for your country, for Fariz?"

Jara allowed a surprised blink. "Yes, Your Majesty. The war plans I found in her quarters have convinced me that she was employed by somebody in my country."

The sultan nodded slowly. "It was good of you to return them to me and my people. You could have taken them to your own home, delivered them to your father. Fariz surely would have won the war."

Now the assassin gave the prince a sickening, simpering look. "All I want is to be married to Prince Jasper-"

Aladdi smiled a little to herself. Not 'Jas'.

"- and for there to be peace between our nations," she finished.

The smile melted from Aladdi's face. Of course. Jara would marry the prince and then she would wait. In rooms full of silks and jewels, in comfort and luxury, she would wait for the sultan to die. There would be nothing to stop her, then, from finally completing her task, killing the prince and stepping into power. Without the mess of politics, without the effort of a war, without the danger of the rest of the short life of an assassin.

The sultan still looked sure of himself. Aladdi wanted to scream at him, but she could not find the energy, and they would not listen.

Jas's father turned to Jara then, and frowned. "Do you believe it might be your uncle, Rayu? Perhaps he has finally emerged from banishment, has used his influence in your father's court to hire this thief?"

Jara nodded, growing more confident. "Those were my thoughts, as soon as I came upon this criminal. My uncle has grown bold in his exile, and he still has allies in Fariz. It cannot have been difficult for him-"

"I know your grandfather well," the sultan interrupted. His son frowned at him, but the sultan ignored this, and looked steadily at Jara. "Did you know this?"

Taken aback, Jara could barely nod.

"Yes, he and I were great friends once. His wife was always good to my wife when we were young, when we visited our neighboring countries. I remember those journeys. We made them much more often than I do now."

The sultan seemed lost in thought for a moment. He smiled then. "I remember their only son, when he wished to marry a common girl, wrote to me to help him persuade his parents of the values of the match."

Jara blinked again, but was silent. 

"Yes, yes," the small man continued. "I even met her once. Riya was her name. She was a lovely girl. Full of life, very intelligent. She had the most beautiful eyes, like flowing honey."

Aladdi looked up as soon as the name was spoken, the name that rang in her mind so loudly that her head ached, her tired mind struggling to make sense of the old man's words. She saw Jas give his father a similar confused look. The sultan just continued with his story. "So I wrote to your grandparents, but they would not have it. But Kanan, their son, loved her so, you see, that he gave up his throne and moved to a small village with his charming new bride. They had one daughter, I heard."

Aladdi felt a tear slip onto her cheek.

The sultan was no longer smiling. "Kanan and Riya were killed by enemies of Kanan's father," he said. "His father has been ailing of late, since the death of his only son, and our friendship has waned, but I will do whatever I can to maintain peace between our countries. Perhaps that is where you and I differ."

The sultan looked at Jara with hard eyes, and even at his small stature, he seemed to tower over the assassin. "You would have taken my son from me," he said quietly.

Jara looked like she wanted to run.

Jas looked at Aladdi like he wanted to speak.

The sultan called at the guards behind him. "Arrest the imposter," he said. Then he turned and smiled at Aladdi. "And release the princess of Fariz."


End file.
